Eli van Engelen - Biography

The work of Eli van Engelen is aesthetically alluring, often frivolous & on the occasion filled with a steely intensity as she produces mood filled depictions of decontextualised found imagery. Drawing inspiration from the vast array of footage accessible online, van Engelen’s figurative work is created through delicately applying graphite onto unprimed canvas & explores themes relating to image collection and archiving and how these collections of online content provide voyeuristic glimpses into the lives of others.

In her latest body of work van Engelen turns her gaze toward a fascination with source material from early to mid-20th century pornography and how the interaction between the enigmatic quality of decontextualized images and the strong sense of narrative implied through the cinematic composition featured in this explicit film genre can transform the meaning or ambiance of a particular situation. Beyond rendering the entire scene of the original image van Engelen is able to imbue in her elegant svelte works a new context and narrative through intense cropping and a replication of cinematic tropes to mirror a surreal and almost dreamlike sensation.

Van Engelen is a Graduate from VCA Painting, she was a Majilis Travelling Fellowship Finalist (2024), won the Young Artist Award, Victorian Artists Society (2022) and was also awarded the Stuart Black Memorial Scholarship (2024).