Biography

Elise Lufting is a multidisciplinary visual artist whose practice bridges intuitive expression and conceptual exploration. Rooted in painting, sculpture, and mixed media, her work is shaped by a deep interest in identity, empathy, and the often-unspoken tensions between personal and societal narratives. Her artistic voice is informed by her Dutch-Indonesian heritage, a global career in finance, and a profound curiosity for the emotional, historical, and material layers of art.

Lufting’s journey into the arts began in childhood, where early creative freedom was nurtured through education and cross-cultural family influences. Despite pursuing a formal education in business economics and building a career in finance across Tokyo, Hong Kong, and London, her artistic impulse remained vital. In these high-pressure financial environments, painting became a private sanctuary - a place to reconnect with emotion and inner clarity. This duality -  between the structured world of finance and the open, expressive realm of art - remains central to her practice. Her compositions explore materiality, color, and contrast as tools for empathy and transformation. Often layered, textured, and abstract, her work reflects the complexity of navigating multiple identities and perspectives in a rapidly changing world.

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In 2021, Lufting completed a Master’s degree in Modern & Contemporary Art History at the University of Amsterdam, where she focused on themes of decolonisation, inclusivity, and the role of the “Empathetic Museum.” Her academic inquiry deepened her engagement with the social dimensions of art and solidified her commitment to a practice rooted in awareness and emotional intelligence.

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To further refine her artistic language, she joined the orientation year at the Gerrit Rietveld Academie in Amsterdam. In 2024, she was accepted into the Amalgam Program at the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague, where she is currently pursuing a part-time Bachelor of Fine Arts. The Amalgam Program, named after the fusion of two distinct metals into a new substance, echoes Elise’s own journey — a confluence of structured analysis and fluid creation, of finance and fine art. Her work continues to evolve through experimentation, introspection, and a desire to create space for connection, complexity, and dialogue.

Elise Lufting was born in 1986 in Oldenzaal. She lives and works in Amsterdam.

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“One day, I hope to build a bridge between the rational world of finance and the emotional depth of art - to foster empathy between systems that rarely speak the same language.” - Elise Lufting