Ella Major
Ella is researching the way color acts as a language in fine art, and thus how art acts as a form of translation and intercultural communication.
PhD Candidate in Literary Translation Studies
School of Languages and Cultures
Qualifications
Bachelor of Arts in Art History and Spanish, 2022 (Victoria University of Wellington)
Master of Intercultural Communication and Applied Translation, 2023 (Victoria University of Wellington)
Profile
Ella Major is a PhD candidate in Literary Translation Studies, focusing on how artists use their art as a form of translation.
During the MICAT Ella did a presentation on fine art and nonverbal communication, and never looked back. Her thesis is focused on how artists around the world have used the colors, or the lack thereof, in their art as a way to communicate with the world. To do this, she is conducting case studies comparing different art movements, from Japanese Ukiyo-e and traditional Chinese brushstroke painting to the European and American movements of Fauvism, Impressionism, Minimalism and Abstract, with an additional study of propaganda posters from the Spanish Civil War and from North Korea.
Ella’s interest in art history, color and language started in her high school art history courses, and only intensified with the completion of her Bachelor of Arts. Compounded with a growing interest in translation and communication between cultures thanks to the MICAT, she felt the only natural progression was to combine it all together into one thesis.
Supervisors
Professor
School of Languages and Cultures
