Originally from Ottawa, Elly Smallwood moved to Toronto to pursue her love of art at OCAD University. She graduated with her BFA in Drawing and Painting in 2011. Her paintings are intensely personal, a visual exploration of her mind and body, and those of the people around her.

Elly explains her work by saying, “I aim to break down my own personal boundaries and push myself to use abandon when I would normally use caution, to destroy those marks which I begin to hold as precious. These pieces are an exploration of the innocent and the grotesque; delicate figures become unnerving and soft colours are smeared across figures. In my works I see a twisted view of self, a visceral representation of how I view humanity, particularly in regards to my own body.”