Elina Isabella grew up in northeast Victoria and moved to Cairns in 2018 when she was 15 years old. After losing her hearing, body function and level of vision unexpectedly at 17, on top of already living with a rare genetic condition known as Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, art unintentionally became a part of Elina’s physical recovery.
Elina started by tracing things digitally. At the time, she couldn’t even hold a pen or sign her name properly. Over time, this transferred to sketches, then charcoal and slowly paints. Every new medium came with new challenges. She learned by watching the few short courses and workshops online that she could find with closed captioning, and later by working with a mentor via Zoom.
In time, Elina developed art-making techniques that matched her abilities, creating large-scale mixed-media oil paintings on board from her bed or in short sessions using a wheelchair-accessible art easel.
In December 2024, Elina joined the Tanks Arts Centre’s Flame Visual program and exhibited her work in the group exhibition in March 2025. She was also a finalist in the 2025 Cairns Art Society Annual Awards at the Cairns Art Gallery, and won first place in the ARTchies portrait competition by Artists At Work for her painting Fighting Internal Fires.
Having her own lived experience of being housebound and navigating complex illness and disability from a very young age, Elina’s experiences have slowly shown up in her art – from the contrast she uses for her vision loss, to the light effects she’s obsessed with, the softness and slight blur of things, and the stories woven through them.
“I paint so young people with illness and disabilities grow up seeing themselves as something beautiful and worthy of art.”
Through a RADF grant, Elina has been able to create an accessible online version of her first solo exhibition for those who cannot easily get out into the community.
While 2025 was a big year for Elina, 2026 begins with delivering her first workshop as a tutor and another go as a participant of Flame Visual.
Winner: ARTchies portrait competition (Artists At Work)
Finalist: 2025 Cairns Art Society Annual Awards
Participant: FLAME Visual program (2025 & 2026)
View the online accessible Augmented Reality exhibition here.
Tanks exhibitions