Artist Spotlight: Chat with Artist and Curator Ellie Pritts

Hiru by Ellie Pritts

Los Angeles based artist and curator Ellie Pritts shares with us her early beginnings as a musician, her experience with photography and how her artistic journey culminates into her success today as a multi-disciplinary artist.

Her curation shown at Vellum LA, Electric Psychedelia is on view until December 18th. Artwork by Ellie can be bid through SuperRare here.

We are curious about your journey as a multidisciplinary artist! Would you tell us about your early beginnings and key experiences that influenced your current day practice?

I was always a creative child, and I first gravitated towards music. As a kid I played violin, saxophone and took voice lessons. I really loved singing, and then in high school I transitioned over to playing cello as well. I took my first darkroom photography class when I was 14 and fell deeply in love with photography. Later in my teenage years I also got back into ballet and dance. I would say that overall music was always a constant source of inspiration and fascination for me. I am synesthetic so some of my senses’ wires get crossed; I “see” sound. As a visual artist I am often trying to share my different perceptions with the world.


You mentioned Animorphs as being one of your key sources of inspiration. Reverse Zoology and Frogeforms showcase polychromatic surreal images of animals in possibly in the state of morphing. What is the intention behind showing the subject matter in this manner? How have digital tools changed the way you prompt viewers to connect with your storytelling? 

My intention behind the morphing animals found in Frogeforms and Reverse Zoology really stems from curiosity on my part. With frogeforms I wanted to create video output from AI assisted imagery, and at the time there wasn’t really a way for me to do that. So I had to get creative and stitch images together, “morphing” them to create a video. I also just love the fluidity of it and I like to play with creating natural feeling movement in my video work. With Reverse Zoology I wanted to see if I could recreate this effect with code-based tools, so I enlisted the help of a great programmer named Stevan Dedovic and we made some magic happen.

We love the idea behind your piece "hiru" in Electric Psychedelia which explores different states of consciousness, expressed in vibrant colors. How is your choice of color palette reflective of your perception of the external world? 

As I mentioned earlier, I have synesthesia so for me colors and music/sound are inextricably linked. I created the song for “hiru” and the color palette for it was very vivid in my head as I created that song. I created the visuals afterwards and it was more or less like following a color blueprint in my head.

Frogeform by Ellie Pritts

As a visual artist with a strong love for music, tell us about the influence of music on your visual art practice. Is there a particular album you are most fond of that you resonate with and that you constantly go back to seek inspiration from? How has working with digital tools allowed you to merge two of your key passions?

My musical obsessions vary wildly depending on what I am working on. Repeat faves are anything by Julianna Barwick, Bibio’s ambient albums, and “Music For Psychedelic Therapy” by Jon Hopkins. My most recent creative inspo album on repeat is Habibi Funk 019: Oghneya by Fermat Al Ard.

You have done multiple collaborations throughout your career, most recently a human-machine collaboration with AI. What is the most significant impact to your practice, and do you feel like the AI you are training echoes your creative intention in your process?

I feel that of all the collaborations I have done technology wise thus far, AI has had the most impact of all. It has completely transformed my process and the way I think about art. At it’s core, AI has given me the magical power I have always wanted; to visually capture my dreams. So many barriers between my thoughts and creative intentions have been removed. It’s been incredibly liberating to me, on a nearly spiritual level. 

None of Us Alone by Ellie Pritts

Your curation Electric Psychedelia explores different states of altered consciousness through the lens of different artists involved. Could you tell us more about this theme? 

I first thought of this theme a couple years ago when I was gearing up to curate my first group show. I get told that my artwork is psychedelic or “trippy” a lot. I think there is a common misconception that I must use psychedelic drugs regularly to create my art and I kind of wanted to challenge that. I do not do drugs and haven’t in a very long time. I can hardly stomach caffeine, haha. I have tried acid a few times when I was in my early 20’s but that is it. I am an avid meditator and there are times I definitely feel I have reached some sort of psychedelic state in my practice, and I have been moved to feel similarly by certain art and music as well. So my goal was to curate a show of art that can initiate that feeling, or inspire alternative ways of thinking, without necessarily having to be on drugs. I want people to discover the amazing powers of our mind, as it is.

With the continually advancing digital technology that is readily accessible to artists, is there a particular tool that you are excited about and is there an upcoming project that we should be on the lookout for ?

I am really excited about AI assisted music and have been tinkering with that a lot recently. I used some AI outputs for the song I made for “hiru”, it’s actually one of the first AI collaborative songs I have released. I am working on creating an EP next year which I hope to incorporate some AI outputs in. At the moment the tools I have still aren’t quite at the level I would want, but I am confident that things will continue to advance at lightning speed.