El Gleghorn

Artist CV

eleanorose1999@gmail.com

https://instagram.com/elsshite?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=

As a multimedia artist, El Gleghorn’s work focuses on the topic of feminism. Her main fascination with this surrounds issues of inequality between the sexes and the empowerment of women. Throughout her practice so far, Gleghorn has come to realise that she enjoys covering a wide range of issues that relate to feminism in her work. Her strong personal interest in topics such as street harassment, sexism and the sexualisation of female bodies drives her to continue the development of her practice, making her want to spread the context behind her pieces even more. Gleghorn hopes that her work will educate people on these issues, or help to start open conversations that are traditionally seen as ‘man-hating’ or pointless.

The use of visible text in her work is significant, as it pushes these contexts forward to viewers. Gleghorn uses a wide range of materials throughout her practice. Notably, she has found that the use of specific materials is not an important element in her work, and finds herself using whatever material is best fitting to execute the ideas behind each piece. Gleghorn takes inspiration from a variety of different historical and contemporary women (these including, but not limited to: artists, writers and activists) such as Florence Given and Emmeline Pankhurst. These inspiring women influence Gleghorn to strive for equality and peace through making artwork.

Additionally, context is a very significant element in her pieces, as she has found that conducting research on the topic of feminism has led to the discovery of incredibly portentous stories throughout history, her particular interest being that of British suffrage. Gleghorn is well trained in the use of many materials as well as artistic techniques and processes, all of which come in useful for each type of work she wishes to execute, giving her the artistic freedom to make a variety of different artwork.

Throughout her career thus far, Gleghorn has had a strong interest in advertising and merchandising, influencing her to consider the ability of her practice in a wider perspective. She has created pieces of work that can be disseminated easily, pushing towards the activism behind her practice, and the hope that her work can be seen by anyone; for anyone should have the chance to become educated on the issues showcased in Gleghorn’s artwork. Her artwork wholeheartedly aims to educate people and enact change. 

Gleghorn’s most recent work, The Feminist Bakery (2024) is a series of twelve cake sculptures. Each individual sculpture celebrates a woman that Gleghorn has researched and been inspired by throughout her time spent developing her practice. The Feminist Bakery was created at the end of Gleghorn’s BA Hons Degree, to show her gratitude towards these women, and celebrate them for how inspiring they are. Each colour on each of these sculptures represents key characteristics from a piece of work that each woman has produced.

El Gleghorn is an artist originally from Sunderland UK, but began professionally establishing her practice at The Northern School of Art in Hartlepool, UK. 

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