Ellen Lesperance

Ellen Lesperance’ paintings on paper, rendered in gouache in universal knitting shorthand, can be followed as patterns to recreate historic garments worn by women activists, warriors, and cultural figures. For the past decade, she has additionally archived protest knitwear worn by the separatist feminists of the Greenham Common Women’ Peace Camp who demonstrated against U.S. nuclear weapons storage in Berkshire, England (1981 to 2000). In 2020, Lesperance published a book of this archive titled Velvet Fist.

Lesperance’ work has been exhibited widely in the United States and in Europe, at venues including: The Drawing Center (NYC), The New Museum (NYC), the Brooklyn Museum of Art, the Portland Art Museum (Oregon), the Seattle Art Museum, the Baltimore Museum of Art, the Rose Art Museum at Brandeis University, Bonniers Konsthall (Stockholm, Sweden), the Tate St. Ives (Cornwall, England), and the Nottingham Contemporary (Nottingham, England). She is represented by Derek Eller Gallery in New York, and Adams and Ollman Gallery in Portland, Oregon — where she lives and works.

Photo Credit: Rose Dickson