Ella Bril is a dutch painter. She currently lives in Amsterdam and love to mix and match color, to see what it does to the eye. Ella work is mostly figurative. She create her own version of reality and try to capture moments and images that live in her head.
How did you get into art?
As long as I can remember, I am someone with a very vivid imagination. I loved drawing, writing stories and creating figures in my mind to play with when I was younger.
But I really got into art not so long ago. 2 years ago I became mentally unable to proceed my job I had at the time. I fell into a heavy depression. I had to go into therapy and my therapist once asked me “but what is it that you really like to do?” This question sounds really easy, but it is really about what makes you truly happy. So i thought about it, and answered “I like to paint.” After that, I ordered a huge amount of oil paint, acrylics, paper and canvas. I started to paint, and I never stopped.
I never thought that people would love my work so much, and eventually it became my career because of that support.
How would you describe your style? What makes your work special?
My work is mostly figurative, I love to capture the human figure and all the expression and emotions that come with them.
My paintings are colorful, large, robust and in-your-face. As a viewer you can hardly ignore them. While working on a painting, I like to be seduced by whatever comes to my mind at that moment. Even though I plan a large part of my work in advance by sketching, I also like spontaneity. So, my work evolves and changes as I paint.
I also like to play with color. Colors are there to be seen, and I like to experiment with that. What does color do to you? What feelings does it evoke? Does it affect emotions? Colors do a lot, and are actually often considered ‘unknown territory'. In the Netherlands, people wear little color. The streets have little color. Colors are unknown, and especially some combinations of colors. For me, every color has a character and combining different colors can reinforce this.
How do you go about developing your work?
Well, I like to try different mediums and push myself to explore and not to become stuck in a loop. Even though my work is very recognizable and I do have a very specific style, I don’t want it to become ‘too much of the same’.
Who or what influences you?
Is it is stupid to say that everything influences me? I mean, I can be walking around in Amsterdam or in the woods and feel really inspired by the people, the colors, the movement, nature, and many more things. I think art is all around, and we all influence each other on a daily basis.
Also, I think social media is of great influence, I see lots of other inspiring people on there, all doing their own thing which is a great motivation for me to push forward and evolve myself and my work.
Make us curious. What is planned next?
Many things! I have a group exhibition coming up in London and Ghent. And a solo in Brussels in the first quarter of 2023.
Also, im planning to go to Taiwan this year, since I met some very lovely collectors in Taiwan that bought my art last year, and I would love to visit them.
Just follow me on instagram and stay tuned :)
