Ellie Williams paints the female body as it deserves to be seen: powerful, varied, and free from the patriarchal gaze that has long defined it. Working across life drawing, printmaking, and embroidery, Williams builds a visual language centered on female empowerment, body positivity, and consent, rendered in high energy pastel colours that radiate resilience and joy. Drawing inspiration from impressionist and fauvist traditions, as well as the legacy of women artists like Mary Cassatt, Williams creates work rooted first and foremost in personal wellbeing and self-expression. What follows is a conversation about reclaiming the feminine form, the importance of consent, and the quiet satisfaction of creating purely for joy.

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If you could communicate just one core message through your entire body of work, what would it be?

One core message I would like to communicate through my artwork is to alter how we view the female body. My main aim is to try and challenge how people view the female body. I think it is important to create female centred art that is powerful and true to the female form, from a feminist perspective; as well as prevent the discriminatory over sexualising view of the female form that is often portrayed by the patriarchy and the media. 

I believe the female form, whether in various art forms or in real life, are often misused and mistreated. I wanted to create effective art works with high energy colours to highlight the power of the female body and to reclaim our feminine power. I want the high energy pastel colours to highlight women’s resilience, joy, freedom and empowerment.  Unlike a small number of male artists, I like to create focus on draw women and sections of their body in a healthy, familiar and trustworthy way, in which would make them feel at ease. 

How do you challenge yourself to continually grow as an artist while remaining true to your voice?

I try to challenge myself continually by learning and working with different art mediums, these range from; Life Drawing, Embroidery, Pottery Throwing and Printmaking. I love exploring new art mediums, as I way further develop my art skills and experimenting with these techniques.

Over the last 18 months, I have challenged myself as an artist, by exploring and experimenting within printmaking, primarily focusing on these printmaking mediums; Lino, Collagraph, Mono printing and Dry point, to use my life drawing skills and apply these skills to various styles of printmaking. 

I have also started to work in embroidery, I have been able to explore the topic of life drawing through colourful fabrics and threads, employing and free-styling designs which inspire me. 

Is art created for the artist, the audience, or somewhere in between?

I have only ever created art for my own self-expression, art has always been away to create joy, as well as regulate and improve my mental health. I created art all throughout school and college; I only invested time in art again, once I had experienced burnout and needed a way to reset and manage life in a more health and effective way. 

I have always prioritised art for my wellbeing and ensured the art I am creating always sparks joy within me, otherwise there is no purpose to experiment or create.   I believe art is a great way to explore your thoughts, feelings and actions. I think it is important to be able to use your art as a form of self-expression and this prolonged development may or may not uncover the correct audience. 

In the current climate, social media has become a way to create your own audience and platform to showcase your skills. However, I do not create art for the likes, I create art works to create joy within me; it is a bonus if someone has a positive or though provoking response to my art. 

Art or being able to share art within art classes is an also effective way to create friendships, which can further develop your art skills. 

List five core themes or messages you aim to convey through your art.

The five core themes found within my work include the following; Female Empowerment, Body Positivity, Consent, High Energy Colours and Figurative Abstraction. The main core theme that is central to my work is consent, consent is a powerful topic, that is quietly brushed under the carpet and not respected. This vital theme is important, as without the model’s consent, I would not be able to create these powerful drawings. My previous experiencing working within the Mental Health industry, highlights the consequences that arises from lack of consent and how this can greatly impact women. My experience of consent and how it is misunderstood, greatly impacts my work and the way I create my art. 

Two major topics within my art, that are key core themes are Female Empowerment and Body positivity, these two key themes go hand in hand and are vital. I enjoy depicting various shapes and sizes of women and men to explore how we view the female body and to create a deeper peaceful appreciation for the female form. From my own experience as a young girl, it was deeply demotivating to not see women who also looked like me and I wanted to create new depictions that young people can reference whilst growing up, to develop better attitudes to their own bodies. 

Female empowerment is an important topic found within my art, which has been my further heightened by my interest in feminist literature and how I can apply these concepts towards my art. I have loved reading great feminist art history books by; Katy Hessell, Linda Nochlin, Whitney Chadwick and Alayo Akinkugbe. 

I have also been inspired by the impressionist, expressionist and fauvist movement, these movements have been key in inspiring the work I create. I have been inspired by a few female artists within these movements, specifically Mary Cassatt, I find it fascinating that she spent her entire career depicting the mother and her child, and never actually became a mother herself. I find this quite relatable, as I also come from a big family, enjoy working figuratively and undecided about having children. Mary Cassatt’s dry point works inspired me to pursue printmaking, specifically creating figurative art works in the dry point medium. 

What are your long-term aspirations as an artist, both personally and professionally?

I have several long-term aspirations that I would like to achieve an artist, both personally and professionally.  

Personally, I would love to continue improving my portrait skills, so I can master or include more portraits into my portfolio. I find portraits are a difficult topic to draw and feel inspired by, and I would like to change this. I would like to expand my printmaking skills specifically creating larger figurative works using dry point and lino prints, as well as experimenting with collagraph in more depth. I would also like to explore working on large linen canvases like the style of Kerry James Marshall, using my own figurative depictions and employing high energy colours within these canvases. 

Professionally, even though I work a full-time job in a separate industry, I would love to take part in more exhibitions, whether these are local, in London, worldwide or taking part in female centred exhibitions. I love meeting and creating art in new ar studios, clubs or events, I also love meeting new creative people. 

Can art be truly therapeutic? Have you experienced its healing power personally, or seen it impact others?

I find I use art as my main form of therapeutic expression, I am able to express all types of experience, moods and life experiences through my art. After school, I stopped creating and this likely impacted why I had experienced burnout. Since, making art a priority, I was able to find my source of inspiration and explore my past hobbies, that I may have found embarrassing in my teens. 

I like to create happy and striking pieces of work, which will create happiness and joy for myself and others. It is always a great feeling when people issue compliments and enjoy asking about my art works. 

How important is it for viewers to understand the intended message of your work? Does ambiguity add value, or do you seek clarity in your expression.

I believe art is open to interpretation and most viewers will not necessarily pick up on the hidden message. However, I believe they will appreciate the understanding and appreciation for the female form. I do not often seek clarification but I do appreciate when individuals ask about my art and the colours I use within my work. 

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