Elsa Robinson is a mixed media artist based in Amiskwacîwâskahikan (Edmonton). Her decades-long devotion to artistic practice has imbued her work with vibrancy, versatility and an intuitive spiritual poignancy. Through years of study as a self-taught artist, a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Alberta’s Art and Design program and a Master of Fine Arts degree from the Vermont College of Fine Art, Elsa has honed the ability to transmit her deep love and care for humanity using a range of artistic genres.
With careful attention to colour, shape, texture, intuition and the power of cultural symbols, Elsa is able to express the notions of love, friendship, inner strength, equality and ancestral connection that most powerfully guide her own life. For her ability to distil, in the space of a single image, the wisdoms and experiences that are most important to the human condition, Elsa Robinson has become a celebrated and award-winning artist. Most notably, Elsa was the recipient of the 2012 Fill Fraser Award for Outstanding Work in Visual Arts, as awarded by the National Black Coalition of Canada, and was shortlisted for the 2022 Eldon and Anne Foote Edmonton Visual Arts Prize. Elsa has received Cultural Diversity in the Arts and Individual Artist Grants from the Edmonton Arts Council and the Alberta Foundation for the Arts.
Elsa Robinson is also a passionate and experienced arts educator who facilitates workshops for artists of all ages and experience levels. Her devotion, skill, craft and spiritual fortitude has allowed her to forge a respected and versatile place within the artistic communities of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, where she has lived since 1984. She is a community builder who uses her remarkable artistry to create conversation, reflection and moments of undeniable emotional connection, wherein the humanity of the viewer and the artist herself, is held in mutual integrity and esteem.
