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“I jumped in the deep end and started to learn about bronzecasting
first. Then ciment fondu, then ceramics, and lately mixed
media,” she says. “I oscillate between sculpting and painting, all the
while continuing with my graphics work, which at times pays bills.
“I just decided that in my work I’d rather make statements about
life in a humorous way. I couldn’t do anything I wasn’t passionate
about or that was too gloomy. Life is too short for that.”
So when a friend handed her a bundle of old black and yellow
sticky tape one day, Elli didn’t see it as rubbish. Instead, she saw
a giraffe. And so started her era of “junk” sculptures.
“I thought it would be fun to make something out of the tape,”
she says. “And it was!”
“I also made a unicorn out of it before I moved on to scrunchedup
chicken wire and mesh and then power and phone cords
after someone gave me some long cords. I really wanted to make
something I would love with the cords, something big and furry
and over the top – so I started work on a huge woolly mammoth.”
People say Elli must be an awfully patient woman. It took
her seven months of working six and sometimes seven days a
week to finish her award-winning woolly mammoth sculpture,
Mammuthus.
“The mammoth was a real labour of love,” she says. “And I loved
the reaction to him too. You couldn’t help but smile and feel
happy when you saw him. He was layers on layers of power cords,
which I had to strip out. About 3.5 kilometres of power cords. I
had used it before in small amounts, weaving and sewing it, but
never to this degree.
“Sourcing materials from people’s sheds is very satisfying. It feels
quite positive, re-using stuff instead of throwing it away. Plus this
material is cheap or free. You just have to rummage through junk
to find it. The possibilities are endless; you can make whatever you
want and it doesn’t need to be sensible. I feel really free.”
Elli’s current project, also made of junk, is following in the
mammoth’s footsteps. Just with smaller shoes on.
“Post mammoth I wanted to do something else I was passionate
about. So I thought why not a furry highland cow. It has always
been one of my favourite creatures, so it had to happen. They are
hardy, short-legged and oh-so furry. I love the way cows always stare
at you when you try to take a side-on photo of them,” she says.
“Collecting all the necessary telephone and other cords to recycle
has been the biggest challenge with the cow, not to mention the
countless weeks it takes to strip them out and latch them on. I
started this cow in February 2016 and have had to fit it in between
other commitments. I’ve loved watching her develop, from a bald
thing to a very ‘hairy coo’ with her own personality.”
Elli has also created dogs, a goat, polar bear and alpaca, using
nothing but junk. She loves adding to her very own zoo because
animals make people happy, and that’s what art is all about to this
Kenilworth local.
“I seem to make mostly animals because I appreciate people’s
reactions to them. They smile, laugh and enjoy themselves,
forgetting about the gloom and doom in the world for a minute,”
she says. “Most of the time I prefer animals to humans, although
in everyday life the only animals I interact with are goannas and
scrub turkeys. So I make animals instead.
“It can be tricky using different materials though, because no one
can really teach you how to do it. You work it out as you go and
for me that’s part of what I love about it. You have to get the shape,
make it stand up, make it work, but I really enjoy that process.”
Elli painting Starey Hairy Coo
NOW YOU SEE ME
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