Elly Strik (°1961. Lives and works in Brussels, BE) is specialised in making works on paper, mostly executed with materials like graphite, pigment and oil paint but also with ashes from her woodburning stove and silver and gold leaf to reach a precise alchemical balance. A fascination for the creative process and a thorough quest for the essence of man results in an imagery that is both poetic and radical. Her topics are chosen to result in a confronting play of attraction and rejection, of refinement and vigour.