Ellen Crofts creates constructions out of paper and cardboard that embody the joy of creation and destruction. Her sculptures exist in the space between 2D and 3D: She uses drawings and sketches to guide her sculptural forms as well as actual material which she tears up and glues together to create her constructions. 
In her work, Crofts approaches her materials with a spirit of playful experimentation–puncturing, tearing, cutting, painting, and gluing paper and remnants of previous drawings. She aggressively engages with the physical world of her materials, discovering the effects she can impose. The resulting artwork proposes an unmediated, interactive approach to the physical world, as a means of pleasure as well as power. Tension arises from the contrast between the weakness and delicacy of the paper and the violence and forcefulness of cutting, puncturing and gouging.
 

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CV:

 

Exhibitions

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​2025    Exploring Uncertainty: An Interactive Exhibition, The Art Galleries at ACC, Austin Texas 

2025.   Constructed Memory, MICA MFAST 2nd and 3rd Year Exhibition

2024    Solo Show, Link & Pin Gallery, Austin, TX 

2024    Group Show, $99.99, TheBlanc, New York, NY

2023    Austin Community College Faculty and Staff Exhibition, Austin, TX

2021    ACC Juried Student Art Exhibition, The Art Galleries, Austin Community College, Austin, TX
2021    45th Annual ACC Student Art Exhibition, Austin Community College, online
2020    Windows on our World: 2020 Honors Painting Exhibition, Austin Community College, online

2013    Solo Exhibition, Bouldin Creek Cafe, Austin, TX

2013    Group Exhibition, Bring Your Own Beard, Pump Project, Austin, TX

2013    Two-Person Exhibition, Brick Oven Restaurant, Austin, TX

2012    Solo Exhibition, Twin Sisters Cafe, San Antonio, TX

2003    Group Exhibition, Broadway Gallery, New York, NY

2002    Group Exhibition, 454 Gallery, New York, NY

2002    Merit Scholarship Exhibition, Cork gallery, New York, NY

2001    Group Exhibition, Sideshow Gallery, New York, NY

1997    Solo Show, Portland State University Library, Portland, OR

1997    Group Show, Rexall Rose, Portland, OR

 

Residencies

 

1999 Summer residency, School of Visual Arts, New York, NY

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Awards

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2022  Judge’s Award, 2nd Place in Painting, 46th Annual Acc Student Art Exhibition, Austin Community College,

            Austin, TX
2021   Judge’s Award, 1st Place in Painting, 45th Annual ACC Student Art Exhibition, Austin Community College,

            Austin, TX
2021   Austin Art League Special Award, Austin, TX
 

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