Biography of Elske Isabella Salomé
A rooted creative driven by curiosity. With enthusiasm, I dive deep into topics to bring insights to light in a creative way. I’ve grown from a subtle activist into a conscious, honest maker with a strong moral compass. My work revolves around themes such as sustainability, social influences, and healing after trauma.
“Products are made to break,” quoting Thomas Rau.
During my semester at Emily Carr University, I created The Spiral Podcast for my Critical Writing course, in which I explored the idea that a circular economy is not actually a circle, but a spiral. Every product has a lifespan. And just as a perpetuum mobile doesn’t exist, it’s also impossible to extract more from a product than the materials it contains. Upcycling is only possible from a capitalist perspective. From the standpoint of sustainability, the planet, and ecosystems, a fully circular system does not exist.
“your gender changes every time you sneeze” or “you automatically become part of another community whenever someone mispronounces your name”.
Through hypothetical dilemmas like these, I interviewed Canadian award-winning filmmaker Tarique Qayumi.
He guided me at Emily Carr University and spoke about the term BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Colour), with which he identifies. In Canada, this topic receives much attention in gatherings and discussions.
Back in the Netherlands, I became aware of the rising numbers related to suicide and transgressive behavior. By exploring these social issues, I aim to spark a conversation about the similarities and differences between Canada and the Netherlands, and to reflect on how identity and representation play a role on a global scale.
I heard about a mushroom that only grows after distruction.
The Japanese Matsutake mushroom grows after forest fires, from the rotting ground. Anthropologist Anna Tsing and her book 'The Mushroom at the End of the World: On the Possibility of Life in Capitalist Ruins' have deeply inspired me. For me, the resilient Matsutake has become a metaphor for surviving difficult times. With a focus on life with and after trauma, I designed a method through which expressions can emerge in a non-linear way. Through these artworks, I engage in dialogue both nonverbally and verbally.
Processing spores of trauma is an unpredictable process, a play between chaos and control.
Education
2019 - 2025
Willem de Kooning Academy
2022
Emily Carr University of Art + Design
2014 - 2017
Cibap Zwolle
Exhibitions
2025
Spores at Katoenhuis Rotterdam
2022
Make It Rain at Operator Radio Rotterdam
2022
Ruined Landscapes at Arboretum trompenburg Rotterdam
2021
Cemetery Solitude at Tot Zover Amsterdam
Experience
Concept & copy creative
Graphic design
Artist
Teaching