Institute of Art Design + Technology
Dún Laoghaire

Ellen Harrold 

BA [Hons] Art

Ellen Harrold is an artist focused on the human connection to science and nature. A core aspect of her practice is the use of painting, drawing, text, and textiles to explore the connection between the conscious mind and our understanding of the world around us. She is interested in the role that evolution plays in the development of consciousness. At the moment she is focused on how scientific understanding was, and continues to be, understood through the lens of art and storytelling. She has taken part in IADT student shows such as New Translations in IMMA (2019), and Propositions in IADT (2022).

Project Description

My project focuses on the relationship between learning, scientific exploration, love, and understanding. Many people in the field of marine biology have spent their lives studying a void that is completely inhospitable to human life, traversing a seemingly endless expanse of darkness and crushing pressure for no other reason than curiosity and devotion to the unknown. Through my work I aim to explore histories of storytelling, art, and science as the means by which we understand and investigate the world. I have been developing a painted tapestry piece made from a mixture of primed linen and handwoven wool, which is exhibited alongside an art book that draws on my sketches and writing. These pieces focus on the European eel, a creature that has been actively studied since Pliny the Elder with consensus on its origin and life cycle only arriving over the past few decades.