I’m Elly MacKay, an artist working with yupo paper and ink to create 3-D paper scenes. I am interested in paper arts: pop-ups, tunnel books, flexogram, etc.
I grew up in an old church, in the little hamlet of Big Bay, north of Owen Sound, Ontario with two artist parents, Joan Irvine and Steve Irvine. My mother introduced me to paper arts through her books and taking me on a trip as a teen to meet members of the Movable Book Society. I started making tunnel books and small diorama scenes with mechanical parts… cogs, cams and levers to make things move. For several years I sold them at First Hand Gallery in Toronto. My recent work is a return to working in this method in many ways.
I received a Bachelor of Fine Art from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, in Halifax, Canada and took a year of printmaking at the University of Canterbury, in Christchurch, New Zealand. I also received a Bachelor of Education from Nipissing University, in North Bay, Canada and put my degrees to use working in Gallery Education.
I now live close to my hometown, with my husband Simon, little girl Lily, and my baby boy Koen, making art, teaching at the gallery and accepting illustration projects. I am represented by the Bright Agency.
I hope you enjoy both my work and those of the other paper artists in this blog. Please visit my portfolio at www.ellymackay.com
