MUNTHE ART MONDAY: ELLA BRIL
Instagram: @ella.bril
Website: www.ellabril.com
Please introduce yourself and tell us about what you do.
My name is Ella Bril, I’m 26 and I am a Dutch painter. I currently work in between The Netherlands and Spain. I love to mix and match color, to see what it does to the eye. I love nature, in every form. People intrigue me and the world never fails to amaze me. All together, these are the things that inspire me to paint.
Could you explain more about how being a woman has affected your career?
I think there’s is a lot changing in the world right now when it comes to equality. More social and cultural subjects are being discussed and reviewed. But nevertheless, as I’m writing this, today the US Supreme court has ended the constitutional right to have an abortion. This absolutely breaks my heart, and it shows that the world is nowhere near accepting the fact that women are allowed to make their own choices in life.
For me personally, I feel like I am not negatively affected by the fact that I am a female artist. Maybe because of the country that I (luckily) live in. But when I think about it, sometimes people, on social media for example, do generalize. I was being reposted on an art platform with some other male and female artists and some of the responses were really negative towards the female artists. So, yes that is something that you must deal with.
Can you name some other female (artist) that inspires you and explain why they do so?
There are so many amazing and talented female artists out there. I remember when I first started posting my work on Instagram, I was really searching for other artists who inspired me on the platform. Well, within no-time my whole algorithm was flipped over and all I could see was art. Which really excited me because it felt like I opened a digital door to Narnia. Some of the female artists that inspired me then and still do today are; Peggy Kuiper, Iryna Maksymova, Chloe Wise, Danielle Orchard and Ines Longevial for example. Besides them I also want to mention; Merlene Dumas, Frida Kahlo, Louise Bourgeois and Yayoi Kusama.
What has been the most challenging aspect of being a female artist?
The most challenging thing for me is that I feel the need to compare myself to others all the time, mostly to other female artists. I mean, I can be really inspired by other female artists but immediately I start thinking, am I doing enough? Am I good enough? But in the end, I feel like male and non-binary artists might experience the same thing though. Which is a shame because everyone works differently and there is absolutely no need to compare yourself to someone else. Everyone moves in their own pace.
What would you like people to notice in your artworks?
My work is modern and mainly figurative. I like to be inspired by the things around me. Humans play a major role in my work. I am fascinated by what people do and don't do. Both in a positive and negative sense. I can be caught by someone's gaze, thoughts, looks and emotions and make a story around it. That is why there is often a central figure in my work, with a whole world around him/her. It is up to the viewer to watch and discover the story.
