Interview with Ellen June Wright

Meet NUNUM's Contributor: Ellen June Wright

12/16/2025

NUNUM

Blending Flash Fiction & Art

Interview with Ellen June Wright

What was the first book you remember picking and reading yourself?

Harriet and the Promised Land by Jacob Lawrence.

What was the last book you read that made you say damn, that was a good book?

How We Do It: Black Writers on Craft, Practice, and Skill, by Jericho Brown, Darlene Taylor.

Which artists have influenced your current artistic direction?

Stanley Whitney, Mary Lovelace O’Neal, Howardena Pindell Alma Thomas and Frank Bowling.

Is there an artist in your local community that you would recommend people check out?

Jim Nonas, collage artist https://www.facebook.com/jimnonasart/

What advice would you give someone just starting to send their work to journals?

Do it. Ignore rejections and focus on each “Yes."

Why are your pieces numbered and not titled?

When I began to paint abstracts, I tried to give each one a title but soon found that I was superimposing my idea of what the piece was or what the piece meant. After reflection, I felt that the viewer should be allowed to take in each work without bias, and naming pieces would definitely send observers in a specific direction as opposed to letting them find their own meaning.

Why are you painting again now?

I have had the privilege of having many poems published, but I also have a passion for visual art and photography. I studied art and art history at Rutgers College as an undergraduate, and I've had a lifelong desire to rekindle that passion. In addition to poetry and photography, I am in the process of completing a watercolor project that includes hundreds of abstracts (7”x9” to 22”x30”) as a process of self-investigation and discovery.

What attracted you to abstract art?

Abstract expressionism is not so much a reflection of what the artist sees, but of who the artist is. I’m inspired by the works of European impressionists and of Stanley Whitney, Mary Lovelace O’Neal, Frank Bowling, Alma Thomas, Kerry James Marshall, Howardena Pindell, Jamaican Artist Cecil Cooper and others.

Artist's Statement

Learning to control pigments while working in abstraction is a delicate balancing process. Pushing images too far can lead to an image that is muddy. Not pushing the pigments far enough can lead to images that are bland and uninteresting, so finding out when and where to stop is a skill learned over time. These abstracts are a part of that learning process. It's up to the viewer to decide whether or not the image is successful.

Ellen June Wright, an artist, photographer, and poet, was born in England but raised in New Jersey. Her artwork revolves around the power of color and the emotions and memories it evokes. She is inspired by the works of Stanley Whitney, Mary Lovelace O’Neal, among others. Her watercolors have been published by numerous journals, including Gulf Stream Magazine and Burningword Literary Journal.