Ellen Essen

“Jedem Gesicht wohnt ein Zauber inne, irgendjemand wird es mögen.”

Friedrich Hebbel, a German writer, once remarked that everyone possesses a certain magic in the face and it will please someone. It is this magic that Ellen tries to capture and express in her portraits. For her, faces are like landscapes to be explored. Therefore, her paintings do not aim at the photographically exact reproduction of the portrayed person, but at capturing their feelings and make them visible and palpable for the viewer.

Having grown up in Zwiefalten (Germany), a small town with a magnificent 18th century cathedral, her creative root is the southern German Baroque. Ellen has always been fascinated and overwhelmed by its opulence and expressiveness. Therefore, she also feels a strong connection to the expressionism of the early 20th century. At the same time she is open to new impressions, recently also enthusiastic about Japanese anime and Korean dramas.

Her paintings, created after a long creative break since 2021, reflect these different backgrounds.

Her vision: “I want my paintings to be more, not just a random beautiful entertainment, no, that they uplift and move, giving the viewer a full resonance of human life.” (Emil Nolde)