Nicola Ellis is a British visual artist based in Manchester whose practice investigates questions of value—who decides, and why—across different contexts. Her work examines how information, tradition, and legacy are transmitted and transformed through materials, systems, and the people who operate within them.

Ellis sources materials from industry, scientific research, and public institutions, creating sculptures, drawings, and digital artworks that intercept and extend existing material cycles. Her work highlights both the connections and distinctions between contexts at specific moments in time.

Since 2018, Ellis has maintained a long-term residency at Ritherdon & Co. Ltd, a manufacturer of steel enclosures in Darwen, Lancashire which ultimately led to an invitation to remain in residence indefinitely. She observes, participates in, and occasionally disrupts the factory ecosystem, collaborating closely with the workforce.

During the AA2A residency, Ellis will bring industrial sheet steel components into the print studio, using printmaking to document the surface information left by human, machine, and technological interactions. Printmaking potential for repetition, variation, and the ‘one-off’ mirrors industrial processes, translating irregularities and evidence of manual labour into prints, which will function as artworks and documentation in their own right.