About the Artist

Ellen Ziegler

Ellen Ziegler is a Seattle artist, designer and teacher.  She has taught in various settings including the University of Washington, Seattle Central Community College, Seattle Academy of Arts, and Cornish College of the Arts.

Moments of awareness are the intention of Ellen in her artwork, it takes one to know one, presented at Starbucks, a pedestrian hub in Madison Park. “As we walk by any store window or mirror,” says Ellen, “we catch glimpses of ourselves that are unexpected, uncomfortable, flattering, horrifying. In that instant, we do a mental double-take. We check ourselves out. We become self-conscious.” 

The images on the Starbucks windows are taken from an ongoing series of silver and copper drawings on glass – the process used in making mirrors. The images reference the dichotomies of body and mind, action and reaction, attraction and repulsion. The mirror drawings can be seen in the Starbucks gallery space. The windows are also a study for large-scale work using the silver mirroring process rather than Mylar film.