Ellie MacGarry’s work explores fleeting and intimate moments involving the body and its everyday transformations. They most often feature tight crops of skin, chest, back or hair, peeling away the garments and layers that we so often use to hide our private selves. The act of undressing is a reoccurring motif throughout the artist's paintings: buttons, shirts and ribbons come undone, unravelling parts of the body that are usually kept private or concealed. There is also an element of self-portrait, as they convey a sense of tender introspection and raise questions about what it means to be alone with our bodies. The artist has always been fascinated by framing devices in painting, as both a way to emphasise the importance of a particular moment and to allow for the imagination of the viewer to expand beyond the constraints of the painting itself.

MacGarry's work is held in the institutional collections of M Woods Museum, Beijing and Leeds City Art Gallery, as well as private collections the UK, USA, China, Italy, France and The Netherlands. She has exhibited at Victoria Miro, London; the Royal Academy of Arts, London; Steve Turner, Los Angeles; Bosse and Baum, London; Van Gogh House, London; Canopy Collections, London; Daniel Benjamin Gallery, London; The Tetley, Leeds.