Bio:

Elliot Clausen was born and raised in Wisconsin (USA). He received his BFA from the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art in 2014 and his MFA from Indiana University in 2017. Elliot’s work is informed by his experiences as a Queer, Trans man. His work has won numerous awards, including the Elizabeth Greenshields Foundation Grant (2018), the ‘Drawing from Perception VIII’ Juror’s Award (Wright State University, 2018), and the Mary Jane McIntire Endowed Fellowship Fund (Indiana University, 2016 and 2015). Elliot currently lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Statement:

My work is as Queer as I am. When I was growing up, I never thought that to be Queer, to be anomalous, was a thing to be proud of. To be Queer, I thought, was to be irregular. I did not realize that irregularity was a strength.

My work explores the Queer, the irregular, the unexpected. Rendered realism maps out darkly humorous inner worlds, journeying away from the concrete, beyond the polite, and beneath the veneer of convention and propriety. My work offers a glimpse into a reality where idiosyncrasy dominates, where assumption is made impossible, and where existence is synonymous with Queer.

@elliot.clausen