Elisa Artesero is a UK-based contemporary visual artist primarily creating light and text artworks within different environments at a range of scales. She has exhibited across the UK, Iceland, France, Montenegro and the Faroe Islands creating both temporary and permanent artworks in the public realm, and with artworks in both corporate and public collections.
Artesero’s artworks create a transient and changing experience that is further enhanced by weather, time of day, and season. She uses industrial materials to embody our more earthly presence in the world, with light and shadow representing the more ephemeral part of our nature. Her short-form poetry expresses much within the minimal, and adds narrative context to its location, enhancing viewers’ experience of a place.
The main aim for her artwork is to slow people down from their distracted daily life and be more present in the moment, leaving space for the unexpected, or even, a little bit of magic.
Born: 1984, Sheffield, UK. Lives and works in Manchester, UK
Education: First Class BA (Honours) in Interactive Arts, Manchester School of Art 2010 – 2013 2.1 BA (Honours) in English, Exeter University 2002 – 2005
Key Achievements include: Morello Project public artwork, East Croydon, 2025; Sculpture in the City 2019-26 exhibiting artist; Darc Awards Shortlist 2023; Aesthetica Art Prize long-list 2023; ‘Away with the Faeries’ permanent artwork in Perth, Scotland 2023; permanent outdoor art scheme ‘Between the Sun and the Moon’ in Oxford, 2022, awarded by the Oxford Preservation Trust in 2023; ‘The Garden of Floating Words’ purchased for permanent display 70 St Mary Axe in central London 2021; 40 under 40 Lighting Award winner 2021, mountainside projection ‘Tonight We Dream’ in Iceland 2017; solo exhibition ‘Building Text’ at Broadgate London 2018; large-scale DREAMERS installation for Lumiere Durham Festival 2015, immersive installation ‘Light Holds Me Here’ in Manchester 2014.