Around this time of year is when you start hearing “I want —” or “I need —” a lot more often. The young emerging artist, Elisa Insua from Buenos Aires, Argentina really only wants and needs one thing, and we promise you won’t miss it very much. She wants your trash.
No, she isn’t some creepy hoarder, but instead a skilled sculptor, transforming mundane items that liter city dumps into massive colorful collages. At only 25 years old, Insua has already amassed a rather impressive collection of work. Her portfolio brags over 45 large sculptures, having become a full-time artist only one year ago. The artist originally went to university to study Economics and Business, but after graduating she went on to the University of Amsterdam to focus on her art. Since graduate school, Insua has had work in numerous group shows all over the globe and been awarded multiple awards and prizes for her talent. She has also been privately commissioned for projects with influential companies like Coca-Cola, Adidas, and Google.
Insua’s oeuvre is pretty linear for now, she has hopes of evolving down the line. Her wall murals are intricate collages, curated to such Pantone-worthy perfection that any diagnosed OCD admirer would feel at bliss gazing at one of her sculptures. Insua is best-known for her ability to create a state of awe and beauty out of something so chaotic and categorically dirty (unless you’re into playing with your trash). In a short video about her collages she was quoted saying,
“My artwork is a lot about accumulation…I work with all kind of materials and its use, the images are always symbols of power, money, consumer society and is also a lot about success and a lot about how we wish to be remembered in history.”
Insua also has a colorful Instagram profile, which is actually how we came about finding her work. She posts pictures almost everyday of her pieces, both collages and sculptural works, each one even more stunning than the last. Check out her profile here or view her webpage for additional information.
The Opium of the People (2013), Elisa Insua
We caught up with Elisa, and asked her if there was any advice she would give to an almost-emerging artists trying to break into the market?
I’d tell the “almost-emerging artists who are trying to break into the market” to focus on their work, their thoughts and their feelings, and not so much on the market. I’d tell them to always try to surprise themselves and make art that blows their own mind – it will probably blow other people’s minds, too. I’d also tell them to go to as many exhibitions as they can, to do research about what’s going on in the art world, to read. But most of all, to try to be true to themselves and develop their own language, and their own paradigm.
Like this article? Check out famous artworks that have been mistaken for trash, or other artists using their work to bring attention to global issues.
