In the frigid depths of a Minneapolis winter, where temperatures barely creep above zero and lakes lie frozen, one artist is preparing for an intellectual and creative journey at Pine Meadow Ranch Center for Arts & Agriculture (PMRCAA). With a background in both commercial advertising and fine arts, Kingsbury has spent years exploring themes of body image, consumerism, and social justice. Now, her focus has shifted toward a subject as vast and fluid as her creative process: water.
This spring, Kingsbury is in residency at Pine Meadow Ranch, where she will continue developing her latest project — an investigation into the environmental and social implications of plastic water bottles. Her work, blending photography, three-dimensional art, and community engagement, seeks to challenge our collective relationship with water and the systems that govern its use.
“I went to school hoping to be an artist,” she shares, “but I quickly found out that was going to be a hard road.” Yet, despite years in advertising, her artistic calling never faded. “One of my exhibitions, Reading Between the Lines, examined how we perceive bodies. Why some people are granted the convenience of judgment while others have that privilege stripped away.” More recently, she turned her attention to three-dimensional works, creating projects that involve direct interaction with community members. It was this approach that led her to her current fascination: using plastic water bottles as a medium to explore environmental issues.
The concept of using plastic water bottles emerged as she considered how deeply these objects are embedded in both crisis response and environmental disaster. “They are widely used in disaster relief — earthquakes, fires, war zones,” says Kingsbury. “And yet, they are a disaster unto themselves.” Her upcoming residency will center on this paradox, using the time as a space for deep reflection and creative experimentation.
As part of her preparation for the residency, she has been researching historical depictions of water carriers — scenes which often depict peasant women carrying water in various containers. She sees this as a fascinating contrast to modern realities. “Carrying water has been a necessity for millennia. Plastic water bottles can be considered a latest iteration.”
This realization has driven her to consider how consumerism has shaped our perception of water. “We’ve gone from revering water carriers to commodifying water itself. And now, even the containers we use to transport it are causing harm.”
Through her art, she is not just understanding water’s journey — she is actively shaping the conversation around it.
Ellie will be joined during the residency by fellow artists Mallory Craig and Margaret-Mary (MM) Sulentic Dowell, and collectively they will be sharing their work and ideas at the Open Studio on March 20, from 4-6 p.m.
