about
elisa capitanio
Elisa Capitanio is an Italian Abstract Artist living in Ireland.
Everything she does, she believes in eliciting balance, emotional uncomplicated colours and simple shapes.
She creates peaceful and harmonious experiences, visually easy to understand.
This translates into her art, design and projects.
Untiring tea drinker, Elisa was born with a suitcase and loves the space between the clouds.
She paints since she can remember. Art & colours have always been part of her being.
Elisa's passion lays between exploring gradients and contrasting colours.
The heart of Elisa's inspiration is found in the intensity of sky.
About Elisa's Work
Elisa can't create just one thing - one style of work, one aesthetic, one type of art, so she doesn't.
Elisa has been painting and drawing all her life. Creativty is deeply rooted in who she is. From pencils to oil, going trough watercolour and acrylic, from bushes to sponges.
She loves exploring different mediums and techniques, and her creative practice is filled with curiosity and sometimes a good dose of unknowing.
She always welcomes her creativity with freedom.
Elisa paints because she has to, it's a physical need.
She does it for the process, for the mess, for the paint that falls on the canvas, for the challenge of creating what she has in her mind, heart and hands.
Elisa paints because it makes her feel like someone's listening, or she's listening to herself.
Sponges allow her to explore gradients, and her obsession with the always changing sky.
The lines are a constant reminder of the good that can come out of the unknown. An exercise of freedom and trust.
colours & gradients
a story of connection
I’ve painted all my life, for me art has always been form of expression as well as a physical need.
I paint gradients, because I’m obsessed with understanding when a colour become itself.
Growing up as a child of early divorce, I often felt like I belonged to two separate worlds.
They used to call me the girl with the suitcase, as I was always on the move.
Now, as an Italian living in Ireland, I sometimes feel like I belong to two separate worlds.
They still call me the girl with the suitcase.
Just now the suitcase is bigger.
Gradients symbolise a connection between two seemingly disparate elements, much like how I strived to bring together the fractured parts of my life.
The gradual transitions of hues speaks to me of the beauty that can emerge from blending and merging different things.
Through art, I discovered a way to make sense of my own experiences and to bring coherence to a world that once felt chaotic and disconnected.
My gradients are for hope and unity, a reminder that even in the midst of loss and change, it is possible to find connections and create something beautiful, something to make you feel in colours.
At home.
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my story
Bergamo
I grew up in Bergamo, a beautiful town in the North of Italy.
As a child I was very much exposed to art and both my parents encouraged me to draw, paint and be creative in any possible way. Exploring new cultures, languages, art, being curious and cultivating a great sense of direction.
I’ve always drawn and coloured but one of my first art memory was when I was 8years old and went to Fortunato Depero (Italian Futurist) art show. I’ve never seen such use of colours and figures repetition before. And as soon as we hopped back into the car, on the way back home, I started drawing, inspired by new shapes.
Milano
Creativity expanded and took different meanings throughout the years and along with art, I started writing and creating small objects.
Creativity become a 360 experience, when I started my Master Degree Course in Insutrial Design in Milano.
I loved every minute of it, including the early mornings and late nights and all the missed trains...
london
One month after university ended, I moved to London (where I had my first real cup of tea), my life in a suitcase and hungry eyes.
Living in London was one of the most fulfilling and dense experiences of my life.
I went through a rapid transformation, while riding the tube and learning how to navigate a big new life.
Dublin
In 2011, after applying to a job I thought to be in London - not a joke! -, I moved to Dublin and Ireland has become my home since.
I found my pace, my rhythm and a new sky.
Closer sky, heavier, fast. So different from the Italian sky. It always feels like more sky.
Once I settled down in my new habitat, I bought a canvas, colours and a brush and started exploring art again.
looking up
Head in the clouds
The sky has considerable influence on Elisa's work, and over the last few years, every morning, while sipping a very milky cup of tea, she lets inspiration flow in, ready for a new canvas!