Elsie-May - an unusual person - who has a rather “unusual” outlook on our world…
Her artistic work is primarily dedicated to the search for complete freedom, thus reflecting the urgency of living and challenges we face in life.
Born to a Belgian father and an English mother, her approach to art has always been eclectic, mixing the subtle influences of a culture and education that is both Anglo-Saxon and continental.
Following artistic studies at the “Bischoffsheim Institute in Brussels” and a specialisation in graphic design at the “National School of Visual Arts of La Cambre in Brussels”, she pursued a professional career covering a wide spectrum ranging from advertising agency studios to human resources departments in large multinational companies.
During the past three decades, her artistic activities have been particularly influenced by her parallel volunteer work, both with AIDS patients and in palliative care services in various Brussels hospitals. During this time, the turbulent emotions and endemic experiences of those she had the privilege to accompany undoubtedly influenced her artistic work.
Elsie-May currently works alone in a bright workshop in “Walloon Brabant” where she mainly chooses the nude form to strip and expose each individual of his veneer and disguises behind which he finds refuge for his raw emotions.
She paints on different supports with almost entirely natural pigments, bringing both an intensity and a delicacy that reflects the deep respect she has for her subjects.
Creating is for Elsie-May a privileged moment, a kind of outlet where she can touch her suffering and their cruel scars as closely as possible and therefore completely let herself go to scrutinise her innermost essence.
The life models that give birth to the nude forms and portraits that constitute the bulk of her work today are only the scaffolding of the final result.
By building on this framework, she seeks to express, without the slightest conformism, the joy, the anxieties, the dreams and the experiences which, together, form each face and each gesture.