Elena Bijelic

“I hold a lot of fascination for spaces involving collision or intersection. An example could be places where the ocean collides with rock formations or people and myself jumping into the water. There is something so powerful about these spaces of junction. Migrating to Australia as a refugee in the 90s felt a little like a collision, arriving and crashing into a new culture, new language. Going from one very familiar environment to a completely unfamiliar one – moving from Western Sydney to the CBD, followed by the south coast have been reminders of this intensity. Recent works explore this idea of encountering the ambiguity – using acrylics on canvas, the paintings illustrate people encountering predominantly abstract interpretations of some familiar landscapes – colliding, interacting, diving, exploring fear, anxiety, excitement, and love for life.” – Elena Bijelic.