Finding inspiration in unusual places – Elsa’s story

Growing up in New Zealand Elsa’s father was a plant research scientist specialising in exotic fruit production, so Elsa was surrounded by plants and nature from birth. Since starting in art school almost 20 years ago, Elsa has been inspired by nature capturing what she could on black and white film. After completing her Bachelor of Fine Arts in New Zealand Elsa lived in Berlin for 7 years, exhibiting her photographs around Europe. She moved to Melbourne 7 years ago and started creating botanical sculptures through a desire to work more hands on with nature. Immersing herself in botanical materials helps with her anxiety and depression and she loves to share the therapeutic benefits of crafting with natural materials in her workshops.

During a rough patch earlier this year Elsa’s doctor encouraged her wild idea of flying overseas that week. With a few days’ notice and no plans she flew to Savusavu, known by locals as “the hidden paradise of Fiji”. Here Elsa visited the local farmers market 6 out of 7 days, sometimes multiple times a day, to talk with the locals, take photographs and buy fresh fruit and vegetables to experiment with, not only with photographs but also to eat.

She loved how the produce was stacked or displayed in large heaps. The locals soon recognised Elsa as someone looking for the odd and unusual. These visits enlightened in Elsa a passion for colour, where as previously Elsa was drawn to texture and form through black and white photography. This new interest in colour inspired Elsa’s fresh seasonal sculptures, resulting in a series of photographs including two exhibited in the recent Gasworks Art show. Another inspiration was the poetic film “The Colour of Pomegranates”, Sergei Parajanov’s 1969 Soviet Armenian art film, shared with Elsa by her friend Amir, filled with symbolism, inspiring her to create more with pomegranates.

Elsa is passionate about supporting local and her process involves sourcing seasonal materials from local markets, direct from farms and a bit of foraging. She has developed relationships over the last 7 years with farmers, visiting their beautiful properties and local stores. The hunt for unusual seasonal materials gives her work a temporal quality where it’s ultimate configuration cannot be known until the very last minute.

Photo artwork details:

Wreathe in background: phylica from Santo Spirito flowers, opium poppy pods from Anna & Ray’s farm in Gisborne and banksia from a banksia farm near Horsham.

Print in background: loose pomegranates in the photo shown are from Golden Dragon Asian Grocery at South Melbourne Market – from Adele the owners backyard. Cucumbers and galanga from Frank’s Quality Fruit And Veg, South Melbourne Market. Robert at Frank’s hand selected the curliest cucumbers and has helped find unusual produce for Elsa.

Lemons in basket: buddha’s hand citron from South Melbourne Market Organics and Durian from Footscray Market lemons.

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