"My work is composed of found elements, carefully gathered ¨junk.¨ I pick up what other people threw away; I collect what nature left behind. All with their own past and reason of existence. Often, people eliminate these elements out of their own environment (crushed, partly eaten.....). To these dead objects I give a new life in poetic assemblages, a ¨still-life,¨ which originate from my vision of our contemporary society, departing from my belief that we have to handle the world around us and the environment with care.“

Ellen Gieles, 1993

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Ellen Gieles studied the Academie voor Beeldende Vorming, Tilburg. She later worked in PME Liège, Lerian-Nti, and taught at Maastricht University's Language Centre; Fontys Hogescholen, Eindhoven School of Education, Marnixcollege.