About Elisabeth Handelsby

I am a Norwegian artist that lives and works in Oslo. I am a graduate of the Norwegian School of Creative Studies, and Oslo and Akershus University College. My main medium is acrylics, and my work is mainly painted on stretched canvas and comes in a range of different sizes. 
In my work I seek to combine figurative realism with painterly expressionism. I use photographs as a reference for the paintings. During the painting process, I relate freely to the photo-reference and do not work towards a set idea of ​​how the finished result will be, but more of a feeling I seek to convey. It is an intuitive process in which the painting is often brought through different color phases and is built up and broken down several times. All of these layers that are painted on top of each other are important to create life to the finished result.
Contrasts in both motif and color usage are important to me, and I often try to make the images balance between the beautiful and the unpleasant, between calm and rest. The motifs circle around topics such as identity, the human situation and our relationship with the world around us.I look at my work as small glimpses of stories, where the viewer can form their own whole.
I have participated in several exhibitions, both solo- and group shows.