Ellen Ball makes large-scale mixed media paintings rendered on Belgian linen, featuring iconic female forms, elaborate patterns, and inspired uses of metal leaf, cutting, collage, and oil paints. Ball’s work is inspired by such contemporary artistic influences as Marilyn Minter, Mickalene Thomas, Christopher Wool, and Elizabeth Peyton but also stretches back to Warhol, Matisse, Botticelli, and the gold ground paintings of the early Renaissance. The work references graphic design, Arabic tiles and mosaics, fashion photography, and the barrage of disposable imagery in today’s media. All of these call to mind cultivated interpretations of perfection, beauty, the female form, sex symbols, icons, and idols. Ball received her art education at Studio Arts Centers International in Florence, Italy, Denison University, Parsons School of Design, and New York Studio School where she studied with Graham Nickson.