The human body changes depending on the viewer. And no one understands this notion better than Elly Smallwood, a Canadian-based illustrator whos work focuses exclusively on human forms.
Originally from Ottawa, Smallwood graduated from OCAD University in 2011. Her artworks, mostly painted using oil, acrylic, and
“The female form has been a battlefield in art history,” she argues, in an interview for Playboy Magazine. “Male painters painted it for their own pleasure; female painters painted it to reclaim it and give it agency.”
She believes her intimate paintings tell the untold stories of women.
Take a closer look below.