Ella Kilgour is a self-taught painter and portrait artist whose work intersects classical technique with a contemporary sensibility. Born in 1980, she studied Industrial Design at the Royal College of Art, London, and worked as a designer, illustrator, and gallery curator before turning her focus to painting.

Working in oils paint, Ella’s practice is rooted in drawing, close observation, and expressive, painterly mark-making. She is interested in capturing light and gesture, distilling a moment. Other bodies of work take on a more playful, subversive edge, exploring the fuzzy space between the real and the imagined.

Ella exhibits regularly in the UK and Australia. She is represented by Grainger Gallery (Canberra) and Glasshouse Contemporary (London). Her studio in the historic Hot Walls of Old Portsmouth is open to the public, offering a glimpse into her work and her process.