A self-taught painter working primarily in oil and watercolor, her paintings are derived from daily journal entries as contemplation, and are frequently paired with hand written poems. She is also a self-taught video artist. Stylistically her visual works draw from classicism and surrealism.

Her performances are poems delivered as recitations, or silently via ancient Greco-Roman pantomime and 19th c. Ballet d’Action. Each performance includes an original libretto or poem derived from extensive research into the arts and sciences. She often incorporates original hand-sewn costumes, choreography, poetry, painted backdrops, masks and original sound compositions. Her live presentations gained attention in the winter of 2023 after Ellen appeared monthly in underground salons curated by Beckett Rosset; the namesake of Samuel Beckett, and son of Barney Rosset.

In September 2024 her piece Quiet & Control was presented at a Sotheby’s Institute event in conjunction with the Volta International Art Fair. The work involved slowly pulling a 24 foot poem about government suppression of free speech from her mouth, while standing below a moving eye and dressed in handmade judicial robes; as an homage to Yeats and Joyce’s attorney John Quinn. Her first solo show of paintings, titled Chaos Theory; a meditation on Dali’s obsession with Einstein’s theory of relativity, took place in Madrid, Spain, with Tönnheim Gallery; July 2024.

Ellen was invited to Ireland by the Yeats Society in the summer of 2023 as the first-ever artist in residence at Thoor Ballylee, the 15th c. Normandy tower home of author, poet and playwright W. B. Yeats — during the centenary of his Nobel Prize win. Throughout her stay she practiced automatic writing, painted and performed recitations from The Tower, and movement work inspired by Four Plays For Dancers and A Vision. While in Ireland, Ellen performed with internationally revered Irish harpist Aisling Ennis in the historic 17th c. Killruddery house at the invitation of Lord and Lady Ardee. Upon returning to New York, she presented a surrealist monologue adapted for her by the award winning author and artist Frederic Tuten at the Volta International Art Fair. Later that fall, Ellen gave a performance of deconstructed Shakespearean works combined with thematically mirrored poetry by W.H. Auden, as a commentary on string theory. She recited the piece while emerging from an Elizabethan costume created from her bed sheets, and tied with string by her hair to the walls of The Hole Gallery in NYC. In November of 2024 she recited excerpts from her diary, edited in the découpé style, at an underground literary event with Beckett Rosset and Warhol-era performance art legend, Penny Arcade.

Ellen has appeared in fashion campaigns for the designer Samantha Pleet and an ad for Leica Cameras. As an author, she is represented by the Shipman Agency. Her essays on art have been published by The Art Newspaper (UK).

As a child she was trained in dance and pantomime under the direction of Balanchine’s protégé and Ballet Russe choreographer, Todd Bolender. She later went on to perform with his company. She also trained at PNB and ABT. Her theatrical performances include work with the Joffrey and Starlight Amphitheater among others.

Ellen is a member of the AGMA / AEA unions for classical and theatrical performers.