DVAA Member since 2025
Ellen Miller
WEBsite: emm-multitudes.com
About:
Ellen Miller (she/her) is a writer and artist based in Queen Village. She currently writes for Northern Express, thINKingDANCE, and The Philadelphia Citizen. Previously she was the Managing Editor of Florence is You!, an English language publication in Florence, Italy. She has danced with Atelier Dance Company, Momentum Dance Company, and International Ballet Exchange, exhibited in group shows at Alluvion Arts, Plastic Club, and Icebox Gallery, danced in Philadelphia's Fringe Festival, and been published in Imposter Literary Magazine. She regularly volunteers at Philadelphia’s Magic Gardens with exhibition install and public events. You can regularly find her checking out a new arts pop up or wandering her neighborhood with a cup of coffee in hand.
Artist Statement:
We are all writing our stories every minute of the day, but we don’t always have the words to interpret or express our experience. I believe that understanding and owning your own story is something we can come to through art, whether as artists or observers. My art seeks to provide a portal for others to rest for a moment, to appreciate a moment of beauty, to probe within themselves, to experiment and play, or all of the above.
I am a multi-hyphenate: a dancer, poet, and mixed media artist who loves operating across artistic boundaries. I work in mixed-media collage and painting. I use found objects and materials, magazine and paper clippings, painting, and printmaking within my collage work. I find inspiration most often through wandering, both across the streets of Philadelphia observing the murals and mosaics and people and in nature.
I have been particularly influenced by volunteering at Philadelphia’s Magic Gardens for the past three years. Isaiah Zagar’s process of letting the art influence its own creation has inspired me to play more with my own artmaking, letting the process be more organic rather than setting out to create something specific. Additionally, his Daily Practice series influenced my own commitment to regular creative practice and flow. Beyond Isaiah’s work, volunteering has exposed me to a broad range of diverse artists as well as the creative curation practices of Chelsey Luster, whose determination to not host a simple white-wall gallery space has expanded my understanding of what can be possible for artists and curators.
My work explores themes of loneliness, depression, grief, survival, strength, and hopefulness, reflecting my journey over the past several years. As a poet I seek to process my own experiences and emotions as well as provide a harbor for others who have walked a similar path. Additionally, as a collage artist, I seek to challenge the constraints of what is perceived as “art,” elevating collage as a medium. While art (including my own) can certainly be serious and contemplative, I believe it should also be fun and joyful. Through my work, I hope to increase accessibility and pathways into artmaking for others who might not perceive themselves as artists.
