Elsa Weldemariam

About Elsa

Elsa Weldemariam (b.1979) an artist who currently resides between Sweden and Montreal. 

Her passion for art began during her high school years in 1997 and led her to attend art school. Her

exceptional work earned her first place in a regional high school art competition. Despite working as a social worker for most of her professional life, Elsa has always found ways to incorporate art into her work. One notable example is her use of art therapy during counseling sessions with children and youth, helping them express themselves through pictures and symbols to foster self-awareness and self-esteem. 

Elsa has exhibited her work at numerous fairs and exhibitions across Canada in solo and group exhibitions including world wide virtual exhibition, which was displayed in Times Square New York main screens. She also has been doing textured artwork teaching sessions and had a project to promote using recycled materials in artworks.

Elsa’s inspiration comes from nature's shapes, movements and textures. Her artworks that she creates have an illusion of three-dimensional surfaces and shapes that can be seen and felt and are immersive and engaging.

As an abstract artist, Elsa explores form, line, color, shape, texture and mass. Since she usually dose not rely on a recognizable object her work, she creates through the process itself. She starts out with a sketch or design and work through the creative process, flowing through until they feel just right. Her pieces always take several weeks, some of them months to finish as it requires lots of layering, drying and sanding.

Her multi faceted works emphasize the congruity between presence and space. There is no single or immediate way to experience each piece, every angle exposes a different refraction of the materials contained within the sculpture. This enables the appearance of movement within the work as the viewer’s vantage point moves. Selectively affecting the surface clarity creates windows and apertures, offering select insight to the internal elements as they are concealed and revealed.