Jasper Project
Third Thursday Art Night · Ellen Yaghjian
Opening Reception
5:30 pm – 7:00 pm
About This Show
As a member of the Vista Guild, the Koger Center for the Arts partnered with The Jasper Project to open a new rotating art space, titled The Nook, in celebration of Third Thursday Art Night. This month’s featured artist in The Nook is Ellen Yaghjian.
Artist Bio:
Ellen Emerson Yaghjian was born in Atlanta, Georgia and grew up in Larchmont, New York. She received a BFA in sculpture from the University of Georgia and an MMA in media arts from the University of South Carolina. For ten years Ellen worked in television production first with South Carolina Educational Television and later as an Associate Producer at Turner Broadcasting. In 1990 she shifted her focus to sculpture. She began by designing commissioned based copper fountains for outdoor gardens and indoor offices across the southeast. In 2000 Ellen began creating figurative works with copper, hammering and heating the metal to produce sculpture reflective of the human body. She enjoys the warmth of copper and the colors that emerge through her process. During the pandemic Ellen took up painting in acrylic. Ellen resides in Columbia, South Carolina with her husband.
Artist Statement:
The focus of my art practice is to bring my attention to one place in time and to explore the ideas that come to mind.
Reflecting on the grace and strength of the female form, I am drawn to the medium of copper. I use heat and my hammer to move and shape the metal into subtle lines of the human body. Observations of landscapes and natural elements lead me to my paints. I simplify 3 dimensional elements on paper and panels and in the process find gratitude and wholeness.
