Artist Statement

Since I left my job as a bank SVP in 2002, I have been creating art nonstop! Inspired at first by boxes of old family photos and documents, I began making collages, assemblages and altered books with these very personal materials.

An inspiration for me has been the colors and folk art of Mexico and Guatemala, where I make an annual “pilgrimage” with a group that calls itself “the muchachas.” We visit woodcarvers, weavers, ceramic sculptors, mask makers and other artisans in their homes and studios, and my collections have expanded to include ethnic textiles, little books in Spanish, rusted cans and other Latin American detritus!

For a number of years I have been a member of Philadelphia’s Dumpster Divers, a group of artists which focuses on re-using cast -off pieces of the world around us to make found object art. To me and to many “divers,” art materials are everywhere, and sometimes just finding a particular item inspires a variety of projects. I look at a bottlecap on the street and see a doll’s little hat; my old paintbrushes look like legs. Cigar boxes and old drawers are really “houses” for creating a story within.

My work brings together many elements of my life: figures are made from reused materials such as plastic bags, recycled paper, old doll clothes, toys and found objects; my colorful palette, the use of masks and the paper maiche process are inspired by the exuberance of Mexico and its crafts people. My assemblages are frequently family records and memory pieces which incorporate the wall paper pattern of my childhood home, postcards from the beach town where we spent the summer, my father’s passport and ration books from World War II.

Currently I have a long-term goal of creating 1000 figures! I’ve made about 500 so far.

‍

Artist Biography

I am a self-taught mixed media artist and longtime member of the Philadelphia Dumpster Divers, a group of artists that repurposes found objects and “trash” in our work.

Using recycled materials, as well as clay, paper mache, wire, fiber, tape and paint, I create assemblages, cardboard figures, dolls I call “Divas,” as well as folk art portraits, collages and memory jugs. To me, and to many “divers,” materials are everywhere—and sometimes just finding or pulling out a particular item from my stash will inspire a whole project. Old paint brushes are re-seen as “legs” or an old torn work shirt is envisioned as clothing for a figure.

The colors and folk art of Mexico and Guatemala are an inspiration for me, and I spend two months in Oaxaca every year. I recently created MY TOWN IN MEXICO out of matchboxes, bottle caps, broken mirror shards and Mexican collectibles.

I have a long-term goal of creating 1000 mixed media figures—I’ve made about 600 so far! In 2013, about 200 were displayed at the Philadelphia International Airport.

‍

Bibliography

2013
“A Conversation with Ellen Benson,” Cloth Paper Scissors, Interweave Press, LLC, March/April 2013

2009
Found Object Art 2, Schiffer Publishing Ltd.

2006
Art Doll Quarterly, spring 2006

Art Doll Quarterly, winter 2006

American Style, August 2006

Art Doll Quarterly, summer 2006

Somerset Wedding, February 2006

Somerset Studio, January 2006

2005
Somerset Studio, January 2005

Art Doll Quarterly, fall 2005

‍

Affiliations

Da Vinci Art Alliance

InLiquid

Mt. Airy Art Garage

Philadelphia Dumpster Divers‍

Philadelphia Sculptors

Women’s Caucus for the Arts‍

Selected Exhibitions

2019-Present  

25 Million Stitches, ongoing traveling show
One stitch represents one refugeeRaising awareness of the global refugee crisis through art. Hand-stitched panels from all over the world assembled into one huge installation.

The Healing Blanket/Manta Decuracion
Textile project to unite women around the world and to shed light on the ongoing violenceagainst women, children and mother earth. Travelingshow. Panels are painted, embroidered, digitallyprinted, celebrating and affirming women’s lives

‍

2018 - 2023

The Philadelphia Dumpster Divers, Chester County Art Association, West Chester, PA

Celebrating 30 Years of the Philadelphia Dumpster Divers, Dupree Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

Re-Crafted ,Group Show, Dupree Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

‍

2013 - 2018

Philadelphia Sculptors Present: Art in City Hall October 2018, City Hall, Philadelphia, PA

Shelter: Philadelphia Sculptors at Da Vinci Art Alliance Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

Re-Crafted: Found Object Art of the Philadelphia Dumpster Divers, Dupree Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

The Mosaic Muse, Art at City Hall, Philadelphia, PA

Pop-Up, Globe Due Works, Philadelphia, PA

Sweet Mabel Gallery, Narberth, PA

Ellen Benson: Diva Dolls, Philadelphia International Airport, Between Terminals A-East and B, Philadelphia, PA

Arts and Re-Creation invitational, William Penn Charter School, Philadelphia, PA

Eco + Fashion, Art Gallery at City Hall, Philadelphia, PA

Archives Alchemy: The Art of the Dumpster Divers, National Archives of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA

Reclaim Rediscover Reanimate, Destination Frankford, Philadelphia Planning Commission, Philadelphia, PA

Lost And Found, E. O. Bull Center for the Arts, West Chester University, West Chester, PA

Finders Keepers, The Art Trust, West Chester, PA

Fragments, Shards, and Pieces: Images in Mosaic Art, Art in City Hall, Philadelphia, PA

From Ordinary To Extraordinary: The Art Of Being Green, Susquehanna Art Museum, Harrisburg, PA

‍

2009 
- 2012‍

Found Objects, Snyderman-Works Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

Push-Pull-Play, Target Gallery Torpedo Factory Art Center, Alexandria, VA

Eye of the Beholder: The Fine Art of the Found Object, Maryland Federation of Art, Annapolis, MD
Honorable Mention

Toy Theatre Festival Museum, Brooklyn, NY

The Green Exhibit, Garbage Museum, Stratford, CT

Art From Found Objects, Monmouth Museum, Lincroft, NJ
Juried exhibition

Mt. Airy Art Garage, Philadelphia, PA

Found Object Art, Snyderman-Works Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

transFORMation, Hicks Art Center Gallery and Artmobile, Bucks County Community College, Newtown, PA

SURREAL ESTATE, Dumpster Diver Central Gallery, Philadelphia, PA

The Games We Play: Remade, Annex Art Gallery, Eastampton, NJ

Stretching the Spine: Books on Health and Healing, Philadelphia Center for the Book and Hahnemann University Medical Library, Philadelphia, PA

Ecologically Correct: The Philadelphia Dumpster Divers, Outsider Folk Art Gallery, Reading, PA

Re-cycling is A-MAZE-ING!, Please Touch Museum, Philadelphia, PA

Dumpster Divas and Trashy Woman, Cecil County Arts Council, Elkton, MD

The State of the Garden, Noyes Museum of Art, Oceanville, NJ

And You Think That’s Funny?, Woman Made Gallery, Chicago, IL

Altered and Assembled: The Beat Goes On, Williams Center Gallery, Lafayette College, Easton, PA