Ellie Thompson

Didn’t Die Didn’t Fly

1m x 1m x 30cm

£750

I fabricate creatures which become platforms from which we may project our own emotions and insecurities. Without fail I always return to the character of the ‘flightless bird’, exploring it as a pathetic and tragic creature. Extinction is a subject that interests me, and I enjoy scaling up my fictional skeletons so that they become dinosaur-like. This wingless blue bird never stood a chance (quite literally, as it’s also lacking legs), and seems to be stuck in the same position in which it died. The bird does not appear lifeless however - I always endeavour to animate my sculptures through giving them both all-seeing yet unknowing eyes. Through these eyes, the viewer may connect with the character, at once laughing at its expense and sharing in its misery.

A Little Bit About The Artist

A Statement From The Artist

Ellie Thompson is an artist practicing in the South-West. Since graduating from The Ruskin School of Art in 2022, Ellie has exhibited a host of hapless characters across Oxford, London, Bristol, Rugby, Chippenham, Corsham and Bath.

Ellie's interest in schadenfreude, anatomy and a cartoonish sense of humour informs each of her soft sculptures. Her puppet-like characters are at once extinct and alive, forever stuck in a sticky situation.

Though motionless, Ellie’s skeletons are animated by their all-seeing yet unknowing eyes.

Tell us about a dream you've had.

So many of my dreams take place in an imagined ceramic painting café. It’s in the same building as the chemist by my parents’ house, and all the shelves which once stored prescriptions are now housing different shaped vases and mugs.

I always sit down at the upcycled wooden table at the back and paint very small flowers.

Last night the police came to my bedroom window with a very high, wobbly ladder. They were counting how many Easter eggs I had left. I had to stuff the empty packaging with balled up socks so that they wouldn’t apprehend me.

What's your favourite movie or tv show?

Anything with Bob Mortimer in.

What is your biggest influence on your practice?

Louise Bourgeois is an artist I always return to. I love how she describes sculpture as an ‘exorcism’. My first job in a gallery was invigilating an exhibition of her work - sitting in a room with her sculptures for hours was quite impactful.

Phantasmal Gallery