Biography

Bryony Ella (née Benge-Abbott, b. 1984) is a Yorkshire-born interdisciplinary artist of British and Trinidadian heritage. She has a BA (Hons) in Fine Art Painting from Bath Spa University and an MA in Museology from the University of East Anglia.

Alongside her studio practice, Bryony is currently the Research Artist on a long-term environmental history project at the University of Liverpool, which is investigating sensory, lived experiences of health and heat in New York, London and Paris. She is also co-author of the recently published ‘Wild Service: Why Nature Needs You’ by the Right to Roam campaign (Bloomsbury, 2024).

Over the past 7 years, Bryony has developed a public realm practice that specialises in public engagement with ecological and climate research. Working closely with academics, artists and activists alike, she has produced numerous international participatory and public art projects integrating painting, film, sculpture, street art, music and dance, which have been presented in locations ranging from museums, galleries and festivals to cathedrals, rainforests and hospitals.

Bryony’s public engagement experience builds on a background creating museum exhibitions at institutions such as The Women’s Library and the Wellcome Collection, culminating in 2016 with her establishing the first exhibitions programme at the UK’s largest lab, The Francis Crick Institute. There, Bryony collaborated with world-leading biomedical researchers and brought in artists, designers, patient groups and community partners to co-create multidisciplinary and multi-voiced exhibitions looking at human health and disease.

In 2019, Bryony’s commitment to science engagement through public art was acknowledged by the Mayor of London, who highlighted her street art practice as part of the city’s centenary International Women’s Day celebrations. Since then, her public realm practice has involved projects with clients and funders including the British Council, UKRI, the British Ecological Society, University College London, the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Butterfly Conservation, William Morris Gallery, the Grantham Institute - Climate and the Environment at Imperial College London, LDA Design and Octopus Energy.

Bryony lives and works in Cornwall.