Elsa Mora was born in Holguin, Cuba in 1971. In Holguin she attended the Vocational School of Art, and completed her undergraduate studies at the Escuela Profesional de Artes Plásticas.

In 1990 she graduated from the Escuela Profesional de Artes Plásticas, in Camagüey, Cuba and in that same year she won the prestigious Amelia Peláez Art Prize.

Two years later Mora won the Grand Prize in the First Biennial of Cuban Drawing. A year later, Mora first exhibited in an international venue at the IX International Drawing Biennial in England. By 1996 Mora was exhibiting regularly in Italy, and represented Cuba at the First Iberian-American Watercolor Biennial in Chile.

Her first U.S. exhibition came in 1996, when she had a solo exhibition at the Phyllis Kind Gallery in Chicago. In 1997 she had her first New York show, as she was part of a four person show at the Phyllis Kind Gallery in New York. In that same year, Mora was also selected and exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum of Tokyo, Japan.

In 1998 her work was included in the “Women Without Borders” exhibition that traveled to many countries around the world. By 1999 Mora was exhibiting regularly in Spain, Argentina, Brazil, France, Dominican Republic, Abu-Dhabi and the United States.

In 2000 Mora participated in the VII Havana Bienal with a collateral exhibition at the Carmen Montilla Gallery in Havana. In 2001 she had her second solo show at the Phyllis Kind Gallery and her first solo show in Switzerland.

Elsa Mora made her Washington, DC debut in 2002, when she showcased her photographs at the Fraser Gallery’s “Four Women Photographers” exhibition in Georgetown.

Elsa Mora currently resides in Los Angeles. She has been chosen to participate in the coming VIII Havana Bienal.

This exhibition was Elsa Mora’s second show in the Greater Washington area. Her original artwork and photographs are available through the Fraser Gallery of Washington, DC and Bethesda, Maryland. See more of her work here.