Elise El Yousfi

Elise El Yousfi (°2001, she/her) was born in France, lives and works in Antwerp. Her passage into adulthood allowed her to position herself in relation to her double identity. Directly influenced by her moroccan origins, Elise’s writing and sculpture praxis allow her to attune to this culture – as for Etal Adnan, an important reference within her work, art serves a pivotal role in re-connecting to one’s roots. Elise’s sculptures and installation works have been presented at The Constant Now, De Studio, Kunsthal Mechelen, and the botanical gardens of Meise and Nancy, among others.

During her residency at Moussem, Elise seeks to deepen her research on sculpture as a space of refuge and projection, linked to childhood, memory and non-verbal forms of language. Her work will articulate itself through the creation of sculptural environments combining ceramics, steel and glass, where writing will take center stage as a plastic material. The residency will be a time of experimentation, allowing her to develop new forms inspired by the motif of the playground, conceived as a space for healing, for nostalgia, and for reconciliation with one’s heritage.

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