Fabian Ellis is a visual artist working primarily in oil paint, moving between large-scale abstract painting and expressive, monochromatic portraiture that explores emotion, memory, and the human interior. A graduate of the Extended Diploma in Art & Design at the University of the Arts London (UAL), Ellis combines a formal grounding in composition and figuration with a raw, gestural approach to mark-making, thick impasto, dripping paint, and loose, urgent brushwork that leave the process visible on the canvas, whether the surface holds a recognizable figure or dissolves into pure abstraction.

Ellis's limited series Why So Blue renders each subject in shades of a single color, using blue as both a visual constraint and an emotional register  grief, isolation, tenderness, and quiet distress rendered inseparable from the palette itself. Faces are often obscured, blurred, or overwhelmed by their surroundings, suggesting the difficulty of truly seeing or being seen by the people closest to us. Cultural references thread through the work, situating personal and family narratives within a broader visual language.

Originally based in London, Ellis is currently spending time in Los Angeles, building connections within the LA art community.

 

Follow ongoing work on Instagram @Fabz_e.