Do you think the artwork above looks like an image out of a dream . . . or a nightmare? Ellen Jewett makes sculptures of fantastical creatures from her imagination. Her 2019 work On Passion and Aggression contains tiny animals and plants within a larger sculpture of a wild cat. Butterflies, birds, flowers, and even a snail burst from the branch-like tail.

The Canadian artist sculpted, painted, and glazed this work by hand. She began by creating a metal armature. Then she sculpted over it, using locally sourced clay. Jewett works only with natural materials. This inspires her to experiment with unique material combinations. Minimizing her materials also makes negative space, the area surrounding an artwork, more important in works like this one. “My sculptures are evolving to be of greater emotional presence by using less physical substance,” she says. She hopes to leave viewers with an authentic sense of wonder.