Elisa is a Brazilian visual artist, tattooer, creative director, speaker and facilitator, currently based in her studio, atelier and artistic experiences hub in Chiado, Lisbon. Her practice has been shaped by extended periods living and immersing herself in different cultural contexts, including the United Kingdom, Finland, Asia and Australia. These experiences form the foundation of a body of work grounded in presence, sensitivity and direct engagement with lived experience.
Since 2022, Elisa has developed her own distinctive lettering that has become a recognisable mark of her practice and a strong point of identification for her audience. This lettering exists alongside a visual universe marked by recurring symbols such as eyes, felines, hearts, appearing across her tattoos, paintings, illustrations and imaginative work. Her practice was developed in different Lisbon studios of her own, across Estrela and the renowned 8 Marvila, and has been expanding internationally. Elisa has tattooed in different countries and contributed with her creativity in festivals such as Boom Festival, No Art Festival, SoundWaves (Portugal) and Réveillon Carneiros (Brazil). The artist has also illustrated the book “Estrela” by Maria Seixas Correia, and fashion brands like Bendita. Each of these contexts played a decisive role in shaping her artistic language and way of working.
At the core of Elisa’s practice lies a recurring question: What is the truest thing in me? This prompt operates as a guiding force for her life and creation. Her process unfolds as a ritual, an embodied and intuitive exercise through which painting, tattooing, illustrating and guiding creative events become direct forms of expression. Through this ritualistic approach, Elisa explores narratives rooted in human existence, translating desire, restlessness, joy, heartbreak, excess, lack, self-knowledge and recognition into images, marks and words.
Community is central to her work. Many of Elisa’s explorations are conceived as shared experiences where people are invited to meet themselves. These encounters allow vulnerability and creation to coexist, transforming artistic practice into a space of connection and reflection. A true collective happening.
Elisa’s communication and artistic language are grounded in a continuous search for self-knowledge, rawness and emotional honesty. Writing operates as a fundamental form of expression within her work, alongside visual creation. Whether through tattoos, artworks or guided experiences, her practice is always tailored and shaped by the encounter between the artist and the individual or group she engages with. Each creation emerges from this crossing, carrying the marks of deeply human emotions and the potential for self-expansion, both for those who experience the work and for the artist herself.
