Elena Mincu is a textile artist based in Bucharest, Romania and she follows a technique mainly known as ‘threadpainting’. Her textile art tackles the human body, the feminine-divine body in the context of myths, legends, and folklore.

Using traditional elements and transforming them into art may seem simple, but is not at all within the reach of everyone. It is a very thin boundary between kitsch and absolute beauty.

Elena manages to recreate a series of esoteric symbols deducted from Romanian mythology into embroideries. And these end up being very soft and classy accessories.

I love bringing some of my country’s folklore into the spotlight and I often depict characters and figures from Romanian mythology and folklore.

‘Iele and devils’, 25×25 cm, 16 cotton thread on black linen

My first series of pieces depict the lore around the enigmatic creatures known as ‘iele’. I have three instalments: ”Iele și draci”, ”Iele furând ochii unui flăcău”, and ”Iele dansând în horă”.

‘Iele dancing in a hora’, 16×23 cm, 16 cotton thread on black linen

I have a rather traditional approach to subject matters. I take inspiration from the works of the Baroque and Victorian era and I tend to portray the feminine as a fusion between fragility and aggressivity, hence the play upon the mellow color palette and the subject represented.

‘Iele stealing the eyes of a young man‘, 22,5×13,5 cm, 16 cotton thread on black linen

Follow Elena Mincu on:
Instagram | Behance

The following two tabs change content below.
My Facebook profile

Nicolae Baldovin

Editor-in-Chief at CVLTARTES
Don’t take it personally.