Ellen Tiberino

Ellen Tiberino, an African American artist based in West Philadelphia, focuses on mosaic and ceramics. Her oeuvre ranges from small, intimate works and highly personal portraits to large-scale public works and outdoor installations. In addition to her own work, she has also established a reputation for her community-driven workshops aimed at fostering creativity as much as connection in diverse communities, and she has collaborated in this capacity with, among others, Mural Arts Program, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, Bartram’s Garden, and Living Cities.

Growing up in one of city’s most eminent artist families, Ellen received her first training by her parents, Ellen Powell Tiberino (1937-1992), a distinguished painter and printmaker, and father Joe Tiberino (1938-2016), most renowned for his murals. Shaped by her creative home environment and the vibrant artists community that gathered there, she later received formal training at Fleisher Art Memorial and Moore College of Art. In search for a medium that suited her expressive needs, Ellen fell in love with stained glass, which she describes as a deeply meditative and spiritual practice. Her mosaic process—meticulously selecting vibrant glass panes, cutting intricate shapes, and arranging them into harmonious compositions—mirrors the fluidity of painting in the durable tradition of glass mosaics. Her extensive experimentation with ceramics, especially in the arena of portraiture, adds a sculptural element to this practice, and she often combines both techniques in multi-media pieces. Inspired by nature, travel, and family, her work oscillates between evocations of life’s beauty and interconnectedness and psychologically astute explorations of selfhood and the danger of environmental destruction. Today, her work is housed in various esteemed collections, such as the Petrucci Collection and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. It has been widely exhibited in Philadelphia and New York, with notable shows at the Sande Webster Gallery, Gallery 22, Rosemont College, the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, and the Philadelphia African American Museum. Through her vibrant stained-glass mosaics, she continues to honor her family’s artistic legacy while carving out her own unique path in the contemporary art scene.

 

 

Since birth I was involved in the visual arts and the spirit of creativity. My parents Ellen Powell Tiberino and Joe Tiberino, both had distinguished visual art careers. As a child, I always worked at home as an artist and attended classes at Fleisher Art Memorial.  Over the past twenty years I have been inspired and I’ve developed as a prominent artist. The largest part of my inspiration was in finding my medium. I truly enjoy working with stained glass and the entire process is a very soothing, almost religious experience for me. From choosing the different rich colors of glass panes, then cutting and moving the glass pieces around until they work just right, to seeing the finished product emerge after grouting. I work with the stained glass in a method of mosaic that I would equate to painting with glass. It is very thought out and precise. I like the colors of the stained glass to flow. Nature is one of my biggest inspirations, in which I am constantly amazed and astounded by the natural world around me, and I seek to glorify it in my artwork.