Adelisa Selimbašić, Triple Layer Cake, 2024

Adelisa Selimbašić is a Bosnian-Italian artist currently living, working, and studying in Milan, Italy. Her oeuvre is characterised by a distinctive approach to female representation, where everyday situations are infused with dreamlike, oneiric details. This intriguing tension is accentuated through Selimbašić’s innovative use of colour. After meticulously observing reality, she radicalises chromatic elements to give her surfaces a sculptural tactility that engages the viewer on multiple levels.

Since moving to Milan in early 2020, Selimbašić’s work has evolved to incorporate a more vibrant colour palette, reflecting a subtle transformation in her artistic practice. This vivid use of colour serves a central purpose in her painting: to shift perceptions of the female body from traditional viewpoints to a new perspective that embodies the female gaze. Through her lens, she portrays the imperfect beauty of naked women in nature, challenging conventional notions of femininity and the eroticism associated with the female form.

However, Selimbašić’s representation of gender is not merely a political statement; rather, it aims to raise awareness of the complexities of female identity and sexuality. In her own words, she states, "I don’t define myself as a feminist, rather as an artist who wants to redefine, through painting, the acts and attitudes that have perpetuated the illusion of fixed gender identities and the body as a passive medium branded by it." Through her work, Selimbašić invites viewers to engage in a dialogue about the fluidity of identity and the evolving nature of gender representation.