Ellis King

Desperate Housewife

Ellis King is a contemporary British figurative painter based in Norwich, UK. Working primarily in portraiture, her practice explores the emotional and political realities of womanhood, examining how identity is shaped through memory, resilience and systemic inequality. Balancing realism with restrained abstraction, King creates psychologically charged paintings that hold tension between vulnerability and strength. Through subtle gesture, layered surfaces and considered colour, her figures occupy spaces of quiet confrontation, inviting reflection on the expectations and narratives historically imposed upon women's bodies and lived experience. Initially studying art before a career in charity marketing, she returned to painting in 2019. In 2025, she was awarded the Square Feet Gallery Exhibition Prize at the Women in Art Prize. She was previously selected as one of 100 Emerging Artists by the Arts to Hearts Project (2024) and appeared on Sky Arts' Portrait Artist of the Year (Series 12). In 2026, she was shortlisted for the Behind the Artist Awards and is preparing for her first solo exhibition in London's Marylebone. King has worked with Thompson's Gallery (London & Aldeburgh), Prince & Pilgrim (Richmond) and Clifton Fine Art (Bristol), and her work is held in private collections across the UK, Europe, Canada and the United States.