An Espresso with Elisa Moris Vai: Artist conversation about Female Artists, Violence and Nurturing Others
Published: March 8, 2025 | Interview by Romina Provenzi | 5 min read
Elisa Moris Vai - portrait of the artist
Elisa Moris Vai is a contemporary visual artist working across multiple media, including glass art, stained glass, film, and drawing. Her practice explores themes of societal denial, childhood trauma, and gender inequality in the art world. Based in France, her work has been shown internationally, including in the UK.
On curiosity, community, and the art of staying connected
What does success mean to you as an artist?
Success can be several things at the same time for me. It’s about expressing myself and feeling good with my whole life, including my art practice. At some point, the work can only make sense if shared with an audience because success means nurturing others too and feeling connected with artists, curators, educators, art professionals and the whole community. Then I think success equals enjoying our lives, special lives and difficult ones, and having means such as money, time and mental health at some point because it would make my work more sustainable in the future. However, just wanting to pursue my practice is already a good sign that it’s going well. Finally, success is staying and feeling curious along the way, marvelling at what I see, nurturing the feelings of what drives me and certainly trying not to isolate myself in my art practice.
On confronting violence through beauty — without looking away
What is the focus of your work at present?
My aim with work is to mirror society to show what it doesn’t want to see, including denials. As an artist working in the visual arts, I think about beauty a lot regarding the audience, but the challenge has always been my focus on offering some beauty through my work, as there’s a lot of violence out there. Right now, I’m busy with a new project whose work cycle is spanned over several years and will include work on mediums like glass, stained glass, short movies, and maybe drawings too. The theme is violence against children, and it has begun from a very personal place, as I experienced violence within my family as a child. It’s a huge problem. It will also relate to sexual violence, a very hot topic, but most importantly, a reality of the world. I'm looking for a way to transmit and enlighten this content as part of the process, trying not to repeat violence in any way. Although some curators and museum directors feel uncomfortable talking about these themes, and others don’t know how to handle the conversation, they would also genuinely like to be proactive about it. The project starts from my story, which sadly is the story of so many children, but it won’t be based on my personal stuff, as it’s too bold for me, and I don’t want to approach it that way. I see it as a broader picture, as all involved are interconnected.
On self-censorship, intuition, and the invisible journey of women in art
What sort of difficulties have you found along the way in working as an artist?
There have been difficulties in many different ways. It has been difficult listening to myself and my intuitions, keeping the inner score instead of the outside wave, and sometimes taking risks like changing mediums and subjects. I have found it especially difficult not to respond to every kind of single demon just because it is fashionable to do something on that topic. Sometimes I have applied self-censoring for fear of how my work would have been received by men, by the art world, and by the audience in general. I encountered the difficulty of making my process and research well understood, as it connects what I am doing on an artistic level to my life as well. On top of all, I am pretty much aware of the challenge of being a woman as the arts journey for women is a completely different experience compared to the artistic journey of a man. For me, it’s fundamentally important in my work to care for those who were invisible in the last century, like women, for instance.
Reflections on this Conversation
Elisa Moris Vai's interview is a reminder that the most meaningful art often comes from the most uncomfortable places. Her willingness to sit with difficulty — whether childhood trauma, gender inequality, or the discomfort of curators unsure how to engage — models a kind of artistic courage that prioritises truth over popularity. In a world saturated with content designed to please, Vai's work insists on something harder and more necessary: to mirror back what we would rather not see. Perhaps the most striking aspect of the interview is Vai's current project on violence against children and sexual abuse. She articulates a delicate, creative tension: how does one illuminate brutality through art without perpetuating harm? Her approach — working across glass, stained glass, and film over several years — suggests that time, care, and intentionality are essential when handling such material. She's not interested in shock value or personal confession; instead, she seeks to present trauma as a collective, interconnected reality that demands acknowledgement rather than spectacle.
The Sun King sweet tooth, Bittersweet France, 2022
Le Cordon _ The Cord, To tangle, 2024 c. Thomas Douvry
