Elsa Casanova

Elsa Casanova (Barcelona, 1994) is an artist, designer and researcher whose practice primarily develops through image production, object hacking and performance, which she uses as tools for research and production. Her work explores the ways in which visual codes, images and gestures contribute to the construction of specific imaginaries and their respective symbols, with particular attention to processes of aesthetic appropriation and political instrumentalisation.

Casanova works through the deconstruction and reconfiguration of forms, narratives and devices that are often taken for granted. Her practice questions the relationship between representation and reality, investigating how images not only describe the world but also contribute to constructing it. Through a combination of installation, video, performance, publishing and interventions into objects, she creates situations that question contemporary social, political and cultural imaginaries.

Her recent lines of research include the representation of nature and weather, the climate crisis and the narratives that shape its imaginary, as well as the relationships between visual culture, hunting and domestication. In The Banality of Talking about the Weather, Casanova investigates the influence of meteorological representations on our relationship with the climate crisis, exploring the tension between image, construction and reality. Her practice also incorporates a critical approach to the cultural mechanisms that shape how we perceive, represent and relate to our surroundings.

With an academic background in industrial design, Casanova graduated with a Master’s degree in GEO–Design from Design Academy Eindhoven (The Netherlands, 2022) and holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Capitalism Analysis and Transformative Policies from Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (2019). Her work has been presented at national and international institutions, art centres, festivals and design spaces, including Fundació Miró, Sala Amadís, Matadero Madrid, TBA21, La Panera Centre for Art, Sala d’Art Jove, CentroCentro, ACVic Centre for Contemporary Art, Frappant Gallery, Dutch Design Week, Milano Design Film Festival and the Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology (MAAT).