* All images used with permission. Please do not distribute without first contacting the artist.
Ellen Jantzen was born and raised in St. Louis Missouri and graduated Summa Cum Laude from FIDM (Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising), Los Angeles. After getting a second degree in fashion design from FIDM she briefly taught at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California.
Ellen explains the work by saying, “Forests and trees have played a prominent role in many folktales and legends and have been given deep and sacred meanings. They are seen as powerful symbols of growth, decay and resurrection. I am responding by striving to make visual the ephemeral nature of sacred, spiritual realms. In this series, I am transplanting replica trees into the natural world then creating ethereal forms that blend with and supplant the natural environment. One is artificial, the other a spirit form; both represent the transcendence of nature.”
