Elias Nyegaard Michelsen

Elias Nyegaard Michelsen is a Norwegian artist. He started experimenting with different art forms at an early age before establishing himself as an artist where oil paint and charcoal would be his main mediums of choice. While specializing in contemporary figurative motives, he also embraces more abstract elements to give more dimension to the storytelling in his work. Elias wishes for every brush stroke to have an intention, and for the messages and narratives in his work to be the main focus. 

Elias was born in 2002 in Oslo, Norway and raised in Stavern, a town two hours south of the capital. Growing up next door to his artist grandpa, Fritz Helge Nyegaard, he was exposed to all the different aspects of what the life of an artist implies. Besides drawing, he also found interest in traveling and learning about different cultures and people. This would become the inspiration for his early work. At age 13, Elias started exhibiting his work alongside his grandfather in Galleri Nyegaard. His portraits of people from around the world became a big success. 

Summer of 2018, he quit school to pursue his passion for art, and relocated together with his family to southern Spain. The 3 years he spent there were vital for realizing himself as an artist, and navigating through the challenges and gifts that came with it. He started his favorite artists, where a natural shift happened, going from only drawing to working mostly with oil paint. It was also during this time that he came to be most passionate about the large scale oil paintings. 

“There is no way to describe the feeling of creating these paintings. One reason being the size of them. Working with these large canvases really is intense, both physically and mentally. But it’s also what I need now, larger canvases, larger movements and perspectives.”

Elias is now based in Mexico City, where he continues to bring his visions into life and onto the canvas.