Held Light
Oil and cold wax on linen · 48 × 60 in · 2026
New work · Detroit · 2026
Mara
Ellis
Paintings of memory, matter, and the light that stays.
Enter the collection ↓Current collection
“I paint what remains
after the moment leaves.”
Color arrives first. Then memory, shape, and the evidence of a hand moving slowly across the surface.
Selected works
Three ways
of remembering.
Original showroom artwork created for this public portfolio concept. Availability details are illustrative.
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ME-2026-01 · UNIQUE WORKThe Light That Stays · 2026
Held Light
“The figure arrived after the gold. I kept removing her face until memory could enter without asking permission.”
- Medium
- Oil and cold wax on linen
- Dimensions
- 48 × 60 in · 50 × 62 in framed
- Showroom price
- $8,600
- Availability
- Available · illustrative only
- Framing
- Float-mounted in hand-finished walnut; archival back and hanging cleat included.
- Delivery
- Custom travel frame, condition report, and insured specialist delivery quoted to destination.
- Rights
- Physical acquisition does not include reproduction rights. Editorial and exhibition licensing reviewed separately.
- Object weight
- 31 lb framed
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PROVENANCE & CERTIFICATE STUDY
One object. One unbroken story.
- 01Completed in the Detroit studio · 2026
- 02Studio inventory ME-2026-01 · artist custody
- 03Fictional showroom record · no ownership transfer
Artist statement
Making room
for what
cannot be said.
My work begins with fragments: a remembered coat, a horizon seen from a moving car, leaves pressed between pages and forgotten. I build each surface slowly, adding and removing until the image feels less illustrated than uncovered.
The paintings hold figure, landscape, and abstraction in the same breath. Their marks are evidence of revision—the beauty of arriving by changing one’s mind.
Inside the process ↓
Studio practice
Layer.
Listen.
Return.
- 01
Build the ground
Thin pigment, paper fibers, charcoal, and the first uncertain shape.
- 02
Find the tension
Cover what feels finished. Keep what continues to ask a question.
- 03
Leave the evidence
Scrapes, seams, and revisions remain visible as part of the final work.
For collector testimonials
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travel by word.
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Reserved for an approved collector testimonial.
Collector name · Location
Testimonial placement✦Reserved for an approved collector testimonial.
Collector name · Location
Testimonial placement✦Reserved for an approved collector testimonial.
Collector name · Location
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