Elisabeth holds a master degree from the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna (2015) and her practice examines bodies, spaces, and systems through material and temporal processes, rooted in queer experience. For millennia, the fan mussel, Pinna nobilis, was prized for its golden sea silk, a coveted material of antiquity. Today, it exists primarily as data, DNA samples and forensic protocols reflecting ecological collapse and cultural instrumentalization. Classified as a strictly protected species under European law since the 1990s, Pinna nobilis is today facing mass mortality. L'oro del Mare begins at this historical inversion, where a species once extracted for human desire now embodies environmental stress and ideological projection. The project will is being developed with collaborators Associate Professor Mariachiara Chiantore (University of Genova, Italy) and Associate Professor Daria Sanna (University of Sassari, Italy). Co-designed field and lab work is planned at various locations in Italy
The work will be presented as part of a solo exhibition at OK Museum in Linz in February 2027, and as part of a second exhibition in Sardinia targeting the local community.
Previous work
Notable recognition includes the Dorothea von Stetten Art Award, a solo exhibition at Kunstmuseum Bonn (2024), and residencies in Paris and Tokyo awarded by the Austrian Federal Chancellery.
Find out more about Elisabeth's work on her website.