Joanie Ellen
Joanie Ellen works across sculpture, installation, performance, furniture, video, and architecture. Building, welding, sense memory, physical comedy, primal regression, and repetition shape the work. Her kinetic sculptures and sculptural furniture shift between object, body, and performer. Rooted in theater, her sculpted environments juggle hysteria, reverie, and female time travel.
CV
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Born in New York, NY
Lived and worked in Los Angeles, CA and Toronto, Ontario
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2019 …like maddened…raving away on its own, part 2, Hullmark Gallery, Toronto, Ontario
2019 …like maddened…raving away on its own, part 2, Werby Gallery, Long Beach, California
2018 …like maddened…raving away on its own, part 1, Werby Gallery, Long Beach, California
2017 Protest Panties with Fanny Packs, Chora Gallery, Long Beach, California
2016 Confidence of Youth, Werby Gallery, Long Beach, California
2016 Stomach Song 2: Old Broad, Chora Gallery, Long Beach, California
2015 I Am Dirty—You Are Dirty: Daybeds for Soap in the Meisner Technique, GLAMFA, Werby Gallery, Long Beach, California
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS & PROJECTS
2024 401 Richmond Open Studios, Toronto, Ontario
2023 Metaorganism, DesignLab, University of Twente, The Netherlands
2023 MOTHRA, Artscape Gibraltar Point, Toronto Island, Ontario
2022 Nightmare, Northern Contemporary Gallery, Toronto, Ontario
2022 A Tournament of Lies, Summer Exhibition, Wassaic Project, New York
2020 …like maddened, Art for Peace Festival, Artscape Daniels Spectrum, Toronto, Ontario
2019 …like maddened, parts 1 & 2, Kleefeld Contemporary Art Museum, Long Beach, California
2017 Protest Panties with Fanny Packs II, Kleefeld Contemporary Art Museum, Long Beach, California
2016 Protest Panties with Fanny Packs, Millennium Museum, Sheffield, UK
2016 Protest Panties with Fanny Packs, Bloc Gallery, Sheffield, UK
SPATIAL & SCULPTURAL PROJECTS
2026 Belfountain House, Caledon, Ontario — Artist; sculpted furniture and site-specific works throughout the residence. Featured by The Local Project, Architectural Record, Dezeen, Dwell
2015 House in Trees, Echo Park, Los Angeles, California — Sculpted furniture and interior works for residence designed by Anonymous Architects. Featured in Wallpaper*, October 2016, Dezeen
RESIDENCIES & RESEARCH
2024 Metaorganism, DesignLab, University of Twente, The Netherlands
2023 MOTHRA Artist-Parent Project, Artscape Gibraltar Point, Toronto Island, Ontario
VISITING ARTIST / TEACHING
2026 Brain Habitats, Jackman Institute of Child Study, Toronto, Ontario — Visiting artist, Grade 5. Developed and led a conceptual sculpture project exploring the translation of thought, memory, and imagination into physical environments.
AWARDS
2019 Distinguished Achievement in Creative Activity Award, California State University, Long Beach, School of Art
2018 Marilyn Werby Endowed Scholarship, California State University, Long Beach, School of Art
EDUCATION
2019 MFA, California State University, Long Beach, School of Art
BA, Theater & Anthropology, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec
download
Born in New York, NY
Lived and worked in Los Angeles, CA and Toronto, Ontario
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2019 …like maddened…raving away on its own, part 2, Hullmark Gallery, Toronto, Ontario
2019 …like maddened…raving away on its own, part 2, Werby Gallery, Long Beach, California
2018 …like maddened…raving away on its own, part 1, Werby Gallery, Long Beach, California
2017 Protest Panties with Fanny Packs, Chora Gallery, Long Beach, California
2016 Confidence of Youth, Werby Gallery, Long Beach, California
2016 Stomach Song 2: Old Broad, Chora Gallery, Long Beach, California
2015 I Am Dirty—You Are Dirty: Daybeds for Soap in the Meisner Technique, GLAMFA, Werby Gallery, Long Beach, California
SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS & PROJECTS
2024 401 Richmond Open Studios, Toronto, Ontario
2023 Metaorganism, DesignLab, University of Twente, The Netherlands
2023 MOTHRA, Artscape Gibraltar Point, Toronto Island, Ontario
2022 Nightmare, Northern Contemporary Gallery, Toronto, Ontario
2022 A Tournament of Lies, Summer Exhibition, Wassaic Project, New York
2020 …like maddened, Art for Peace Festival, Artscape Daniels Spectrum, Toronto, Ontario
2019 …like maddened, parts 1 & 2, Kleefeld Contemporary Art Museum, Long Beach, California
2017 Protest Panties with Fanny Packs II, Kleefeld Contemporary Art Museum, Long Beach, California
2016 Protest Panties with Fanny Packs, Millennium Museum, Sheffield, UK
2016 Protest Panties with Fanny Packs, Bloc Gallery, Sheffield, UK
SPATIAL & SCULPTURAL PROJECTS
2026 Belfountain House, Caledon, Ontario — Artist; sculpted furniture and site-specific works throughout the residence. Featured by The Local Project, Architectural Record, Dezeen, Dwell
2015 House in Trees, Echo Park, Los Angeles, California — Sculpted furniture and interior works for residence designed by Anonymous Architects. Featured in Wallpaper*, October 2016, Dezeen
RESIDENCIES & RESEARCH
2024 Metaorganism, DesignLab, University of Twente, The Netherlands
2023 MOTHRA Artist-Parent Project, Artscape Gibraltar Point, Toronto Island, Ontario
VISITING ARTIST / TEACHING
2026 Brain Habitats, Jackman Institute of Child Study, Toronto, Ontario — Visiting artist, Grade 5. Developed and led a conceptual sculpture project exploring the translation of thought, memory, and imagination into physical environments.
AWARDS
2019 Distinguished Achievement in Creative Activity Award, California State University, Long Beach, School of Art
2018 Marilyn Werby Endowed Scholarship, California State University, Long Beach, School of Art
EDUCATION
2019 MFA, California State University, Long Beach, School of Art
BA, Theater & Anthropology, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec