[Today’s featured artwork for Day 77 of the 365 Days Project is by Elly Prestegård.]
What if we could do it all?
#77 – Artists often explore a variety of mediums…..but there are some who manage to roll them all into one creative adventure.
Artists are like kids in a sandbox, bringing all of their artistic toys into the box to play with them. Most hone their focus down to one medium to deepen their expertise in their arena of choice. Others continue to explore new processes for the purpose of providing alternative inspiration for their main medium of choice. (See Cross-Training for Creatives – Day 59).
Many artists, however, have felt bound to one artistic medium for marketing reasons. Commercially, it’s easier to promote a well-established process without having to keep finding new sales venues every time you reinvent yourself.
But then, what if you could do it all?
Elly Prestegård does. Her artwork is an impressive combination of three-dimensional construction, drawing, painting, storytelling, textiles, digital art, collage, photography and printing. It is visual art…and it’s also a book.
Prestegård is the creator of “Ensemble Propelly”, a collection of characters, or “crew members“, created from old toys, figurines and new constructions from found objects. Each actor has a story to tell, delivering messages to the audience through theatrical images and often the printed word. The result can be a single image and/or a series.
“I don’t start an exhibition empty-handed,” said Prestegård, who often calls herself Elly Propelly. “I’ve brought with me more than thirty years of artistic experience, from printmaking, drawing and painting to photography and digital work. Familiarity with artistic processes and visual communication provides the base for my work, but what sets a new artistic journey in motion is the willingness and desire to explore unknown lands.”
“Let me say at once,” the artist specified, “without passion for my work, I won’t get anywhere. That’s the force that drives me out on new expeditions. Like a hunter with a rifle at the ready, like a wondering child, I search for ways to express myself, slinging memories and dreams high up in the air and letting them land amidst the hope for tomorrow and the fear of the unknown. This is where I find tracks. I’m a pathfinder with an unknown objective.”
I am inspired by Elly Prestegård’s artistic path and her vision for Ensemble Propelly. I am always looking for ways to expand my creative offerings without diluting them or creating a scattered portfolio.
Perhaps this is also part of a new era we’re entering…
“From nowhere and everywhere Ensemble Propelly found me,” said Prestegård, “like the sum of everything I was, what I actually am, and what I still dream of becoming – when I grow up.”
Elly Prestegård’s artwork can be viewed at: Elly Prestegård
Description of the images included in this post:
Messenger Arriving
Elly Prestegård, Norway
Installation/photo
Moonchild
Elly Prestegård, Norway
Installation/photo
The 365 Days Project
In 2012, Serena Kovalosky committed to writing an article a day for 365 days as an exploration into the lives of artists and the value of creative thinking in our society.
Experience the full evolution of the project! Click below to read the entire collection of articles.
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