Born in 1994, lives and works in Geneva, Switzerland.
Elias Njima was born in 1994 to a Swiss mother and a Moroccan father; he now lives and works in Geneva, Switzerland. After studying graphic design in his home country, he departed to Amsterdam in 2014, obtaining a bachelor of Arts at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie in 2018.
During his time in the Netherlands, he developed his own pictural language. Mixing nearby influences (such as Léon Spilliaert or Paula Modersohn-Becker) and influences from his countries of origin (such as Marguerite Burnat-Provins, Thierry Vernet or Farid Belkahia). His work is triggered by stories in his immediate space, whether personal or overheard, as well as collective stories gleaned in literature, cinema or poetry. He often combines these stories, creating images expressing an off-putting sense of familiarity.
Since moving back to his hometown at the end of 2020, he has been expanding his research to the sculptural domain, mainly working with ceramics.
Willow Art Space 