A local Floridian originally from Israel, self-taught artist and art curator. Since I was a child I was truly fascinated with all forms of visual creative expressions. Personal works of art utilize acrylic mediums to form abstract, figurative expressions through a release of feelings, and thoughts portraying a personal sentiment. From free-flowing, abstract, figurative to pop art, my various styles open up the viewer to a world of curiosities! I enjoy freeing myself through my art showcasing my innate response to the interaction we face as humans with the world and society’s influence on mankind’s state of reality.
Creating thought-provoking art which not only serves as a decoration but also carries along with intelligent conversation with a wealth of context and a particular message to its present beholder. My art speaks to me and alongside the visual form, I enjoy writing poems about my creations that go along with my art. I find true joy in connecting and de-constructing the dots of a story, discovering things that were not always seemingly there, yet have always belonged.
I founded “PaintingPicnik” to share the pleasant and healing effects of art with all by replacing fears with the courage to explore art in inspirational “En Plein Air” settings throughout South Florida.
Born and raised in The Netherlands, Elena started drawing as soon as she could hold a pencil and never stopped; if there was a piece of paper in front of her she couldn’t help but draw. Surrounded by world-class museums in her native country, she was fascinated by the works of the old masters, especially Rembrandt and Johannes Vermeer. Elena moved to California at the age of eighteen, and studied acting, worked as a make-up artist and in the fitness industry as a trainer and model. She never stopped drawing and painting though and, mostly self-taught, continued to develop her skills over the years. After getting married and moving to Miami she continued to paint while raising a family and took some art classes periodically but didn’t get serious about pursuing it as a career until her children were a little older. Now she paints full-time.
My work is a study of the feminine psyche, suspended between the realms of realism and the surreal. I paint with oil because it breathes. It allows for depth, for vulnerability, for time to steep and settle—qualities I find essential when translating the complexity of womanhood onto canvas.
Each figure I create is a vessel of duality: strength and softness, clarity and mystery, body and spirit. Nature or the abstract often intervene, reminding us that identity is not fixed, but fluid and porous. These elements do not obscure; they reveal. They mirror the inner life that is often unseen but deeply felt.
The gaze in my portraits is intentional—direct yet tender—inviting the viewer into a moment of stillness and introspection. My works are a quiet rebellion against oversimplification. It is an ode to nuance, to emotion as a valid archive, to beauty not as perfection but as presence.
My art is imagination brought to life, half planned and the other half meeting various “happy accidents” along the way. When art takes on a transcendental beyond the mundane visual to capture a storyline artfully, it has a soul. I believe that intelligent art context is a vital ingredient that gives the painting its true flavor. I find life quite fascinating, a spiritual experience captured in a body form, perhaps why I lend myself to express by intermingling figures with abstraction. I hope for the world of art to be a wonderful, beneficial, and inspiring place for all humankind because life is art and art is life! Everyone is an artist in some shape or form.
Bitton Art Gallery respects the rights of the artists and copyright holders. Consequently, all works that appear on our website & catalogues do so with the consent of those artists, who are also the copyright holders. No image or information display on this site may be reproduced, transmitted or copied (other than for the purposes of fair dealing, as defined in the Copyright Act 1968) without the express written permission of Bitton Art Gallery. Contravention is an infringement of the Copyright Act and its amendments and may be subject to legal action.
