CARSON ELLIS // home

On view February 11–March 16, 2015
Opening reception Sunday, February 15 (2–5 p.m.)
Book signing Saturday, February 28 (2–3:30 p.m.)

Homes are everywhere. They are houses in the country and they are apartments. They are also beehives, birds’ nests, wigwams, undersea palaces, and space stations. The more we look for homes, the more we find them: massive and tiny, messy and clean, permanent and temporary, boring and fantastic. —Carson Ellis

From a quaint and steamy babushka’s kitchen, to the elaborate and vast castle of a Norse god, Carson Ellis’s illustrations explore the myriad spaces we call home. In her third exhibition at Nationale, Ellis shares some of the original illustrations featured in her debut book, Home (Candlewick Press). From the practical to the whimsical, Ellis demonstrates that although homes can be very different, they often share a few commonalities: they are places where we spend our nights, eat our meals, and experience our days with friends and family.

BIO
Carson Ellis is an illustrator, author, and artist living just outside of Portland, Oregon. She has illustrated numerous books, including The Mysterious Benedict Society by Trenton Lee Stewart, The Composer is Dead by Lemony Snicket, and Dillweed’s Revenge by Florence Parry Heide. Ellis and her husband Colin Meloy collaborated on the award-winning Wildwood series. Ellis is a two-time recipient of the Silver Medal awarded by the Society of Illustrators. Home is the first book she has both illustrated and authored. As an artist, she recently collaborated with her son Hank on a series about aliens for the People’s Biennial at the Museum of Contemporary Art Detroit. Throughout the past decade, Ellis has exhibited original artwork in Portland at PDX Contemporary Art, Motel Gallery, Basil Hallward Gallery, and Nationale, where she is represented.

PRESS
Included in Oregon Artswatch February gallery guide
State of Wonder on OPB
Home featured on Design*Sponge
Ellis's Japanese Businessman makes the cover of the Portland Mercury