Elián Stolarsky
Montevideo, Uruguay, 1990
Elián Stolarsky's artistic work revolves around the relationship between memory, migration, and history. Her practice explores how history is a construction based on choices, how migration is inherent to humans and modifies social relationships, and how memory exists to help us relate and connect from a human perspective. The destruction of war and its aftermath is evident in much of her artistic production.
The origin of her work is rooted in a profound need to reconstruct—and heal—the fragmented, silenced, and traumatic history of her family, who were forced to migrate due to war and religious persecution. Her journey in art acts as a vehicle to revisit the places once traveled by her ancestors, allowing her to complete the cycle and fully engage with her present.
Her work primarily develops in the textile field, although photographs and collages are essential components of her artistic work, often acting as the starting point for her creations. Her creative process involves digitally altering archival images to create a narrative that merges reality with imaginative fiction, expressed through printmaking, animation, and textiles. Her work addresses the silent repercussions of violence on future generations and the healing role that art plays in making sense of and dealing with inherited trauma. At the same time, Elián's work explores the artist's need to live in the present; through her work, she understands the infinite possibilities of being based on the different places she inhabits, thus making her practice not only a review of the past but also a constant opportunity to understand the present.
She holds a Bachelor's degree in Visual and Plastic Arts from the Instituto Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes (Montevideo, Uruguay) and a Master's with Distinction in Installation and Printmaking Techniques from Kask Conservatorium, Hogent (Ghent, Belgium). In 2024, she has had a solo exhibition at ARTIFEX, Vilnius Academy of Arts, Lithuania, and in 2023 at the Instituto Cervantes in Warsaw, Poland, and at El Chico, Madrid. In the same year, she participated in group exhibitions such as Circuitos at the Sala de Arte Joven in Madrid and at the SIM Exhibition Hall in Reykjavik, Iceland. In 2024, she was the recipient of the Swatch Art Peace Hotel residency in Shanghai, China, and in 2023 of the SIM Residency in Reykjavik, Iceland. She is currently in residence at Artists Unlimited in Bielefeld, Germany.
The origin of her work is rooted in a profound need to reconstruct—and heal—the fragmented, silenced, and traumatic history of her family, who were forced to migrate due to war and religious persecution. Her journey in art acts as a vehicle to revisit the places once traveled by her ancestors, allowing her to complete the cycle and fully engage with her present.
Her work primarily develops in the textile field, although photographs and collages are essential components of her artistic work, often acting as the starting point for her creations. Her creative process involves digitally altering archival images to create a narrative that merges reality with imaginative fiction, expressed through printmaking, animation, and textiles. Her work addresses the silent repercussions of violence on future generations and the healing role that art plays in making sense of and dealing with inherited trauma. At the same time, Elián's work explores the artist's need to live in the present; through her work, she understands the infinite possibilities of being based on the different places she inhabits, thus making her practice not only a review of the past but also a constant opportunity to understand the present.
She holds a Bachelor's degree in Visual and Plastic Arts from the Instituto Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes (Montevideo, Uruguay) and a Master's with Distinction in Installation and Printmaking Techniques from Kask Conservatorium, Hogent (Ghent, Belgium). In 2024, she has had a solo exhibition at ARTIFEX, Vilnius Academy of Arts, Lithuania, and in 2023 at the Instituto Cervantes in Warsaw, Poland, and at El Chico, Madrid. In the same year, she participated in group exhibitions such as Circuitos at the Sala de Arte Joven in Madrid and at the SIM Exhibition Hall in Reykjavik, Iceland. In 2024, she was the recipient of the Swatch Art Peace Hotel residency in Shanghai, China, and in 2023 of the SIM Residency in Reykjavik, Iceland. She is currently in residence at Artists Unlimited in Bielefeld, Germany.
