Elena Ohlander

I make art about care and risk, using stitching, symbols, and everyday objects to explore how we protect fragile things.

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You decide who will appear in Artforum Magazine, take home $25,000, and display their work at The Art of Elysium's Salon!

Voting for the Top 20 ends Thursday the 14th of May at 7PM PDT

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What is your favorite type of art to create?

I’m most drawn to intimate, hand-worked pieces; watercolor layered with Sashiko stitching and quiet symbolism. I love work that feels both delicate and deliberate, where each mark and thread carries memory, care, and a sense of lived experience. These pieces sit between painting and textile, holding space for imperfection, softness, and subtle narrative.

Where do you find inspiration?

I find inspiration in the quiet details of daily life: parenthood, memory, and inherited traditions. I’m drawn to Japanese textiles, small rituals, and objects that carry emotional weight. Inspiration often arrives through observation: a gesture, a fragment of conversation, or the way objects, something worn or imperfect holds history. It’s less about seeking and more about noticing what lingers.

What would you do with $25,000?

With $25,000, I would expand into immersive installations; transforming stitching and repair into large-scale, walkable environments. Using suspended textiles, light, and sound, I’d create quiet, experiential spaces where viewers can move through memory, care, and imperfection rather than simply observe it.

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