Biography
Elia Diogene is a Franco-Spanish visual artist living in Paris. Her research focuses primarily on the internal movements of the human soul. Leading her to explor the figure of the monster in the collective imagination as a reflection of our psychic mechanisms.
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From her adolescence she joined the Villa Thiole, Municipal School of Plastic Arts of Nice, where she discovered different mediums, allowing her to start her artistic experience.
She continued her studies at the University of Barcelona Pompeu Fabra where she followed a course in Human Sciences in Art History specializing in medieval, baroque and ethnic arts which she particularly liked and which would later influence her art. She completed her training by practicing different traditional print techniques, notably the art of ukiyo-e (Japanese print) by Utagawa Kuniyoshi, which led her to unite her areas of expertise in the study of monsters.
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In 2016, she left Europe and moved to Mexico for two years. There she volunteers within the Maya Muuchximbal community and works in the Arte Yawi gallery with Huichol artists, a pre-Hispanic people who perpetuate their ancestral art. It was then bathed in the strong presence of 20th century surrealist artists such as Rémédios Varo and Léonora Carrington; Elia immerses herself in the strong historical and local beliefs linked to the supernatural which nourish her world and inspire her imagination, which she has begun to create for several years.
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Elia Diogenes returned to France in 2018 to deepen her study. She graduated with a Master of Research in Visual Arts from La Sorbonne, with the congratulations of the jury, in 2020. From then on, her artistic approach is influenced by psychology as much as by dreaminess, her dissertation dealing with the role of the unconscious in creation.
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A member of artist collectives such as La Condamine and La Main Collectif, she created the Tounki brand in 2022, in order to make her creations accessible through everyday objects. She has exhibited on several occasions in Paris.
For her first personal exhibition, she presented "Monsters of the deep" the works of which were composed in situ within her residence at Remix.
Artist Statement
I grew up on the shores of the Mediterranean. My life has been filled with travels as much physical as imaginary; which inspired me in my artistic creation and I was able to escape from one world to enter another. I specialized in Art History in order to know its evolution over time. Discovering me a particular affinity with painting, its technical aspect in its diversity continues to fascinate me. Subsequently, I linked painting to a deeper, almost philosophical research, questioning myself on the nature of the human being. How can art bring us closer to our Essence? The unconscious seemed to me a path to explore for possible answers.
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Just like in a dream, my creations develop in a strange world. They can be understood as metaphors or deep and unconscious thoughts of psychic life, both personal and collective. The visual result of my works leans towards three-dimensionality: starting from a flat surface, traditionally used in painting, to evolve towards a more sculptural aspect. I use the drape as a base on which to paint shapes. Some of my works are almost organic, reminiscent of monsters. I try, taking advantage of the raw aspect of the materials combined with the painting, to obtain a complete work with the characteristics of each material that enriches it.
In ethnic art, the different materials create an object that seems to have a soul. I have used this approach in the development of my works. In my work I try to incorporate the dreamlike into the real. This path makes it possible to unwind a thread towards the unconscious; to reveal hidden parts of ourselves or of different cultures. I develop my works by creating thanks to instinct, chance and dreams, which allows the unconscious to manifest itself.
By understanding them as metaphors, everyone can interpret my works according to their personal experience, their psyche. I want my works to invite questioning until they find common points that can allow us to understand the depth of human nature.
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I continue to orient my work in this direction, while experimenting with new techniques, new materials and other dimensions by placing the works in various environments. The relationship between the real space and the pictorial space of the canvas is developing, as a way of implanting fiction in reality.
Research writings
IXIPTLA, On the paths of the unconscious through painting 2020
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Thesis of the Master 2 Research Plastic Arts. Direction by Miguel Egaña
Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne.
El mundo fantastico by Kuniyoshi designed and written in Spanish 2016
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Dissertation, Human Sciences, specialized in art history.
Barcelona, Pompeu Fabra University.