Eli Yazdani
Surreal artist based in Hamburg, working under the name El’Art.
I have always trusted imagined worlds. As a child, I believed my dolls might wake after dark, and in dreams I became a fish or stepped inside cartoons. Drawing became a way to bring some of those worlds back with me.
That impulse led me through graphic design at Qods Art School in Isfahan, a BA in Painting at Sepehr Art University, and an MA in Illustration at the University of Art and Architecture in Tehran. I later participated in three group painting exhibitions and worked as a character designer in game development. Moving from Iran to Hamburg and becoming a mother turned my attention further inward; returning to art reconnected me with a part of myself I had missed.
Artistic Practice
I rarely begin with a sudden idea. I look and think until a larger scene appears, then discover its details as I work. Fish carry movement and life; flowers bring freshness; bodies and faces—especially female ones—hold power. Eyes and hands speak, while unfamiliar creatures make room for possibilities ordinary reality refuses.
I know where each story begins, but I don’t want to explain its heart. My images are not puzzles with one correct answer; they are places the viewer can enter and continue in their own way.
Artist — Eli (Elahe) Yazdani
Working name — El’Art
Based in — Hamburg, Germany
Education — MA Illustration · BA Painting · Graphic Design
Experience — Group painting exhibitions · Game character design
Practice — Surreal art and illustration
Exhibitions & Collaborations
For exhibition proposals, gallery representation, acquisitions, and selected creative collaborations, please get in touch.