Curator at Museum of Brisbane

Studying the subject at BGGS and again at university, Elena hoped to one day combine her two passions as an art curator. 

‘Since I was child, I’ve loved all forms of artistic expression. I’ve been dancing since I was five, attended art classes throughout primary school, played music here and there, and chose to take Senior Drama and Visual Art at BGGS,’ Elena said.

'The academic rigour of BGGS set me up for my future studies and I constantly reflect on what a privilege it was to have attended the school.'

In 2020, Elena was the recipient of the Paula and Tony Kinnane Art History Scholarship, and the student curator behind the ‘Music of Spheres’ exhibit at The University of Queensland (UQ). 

Elena was given the opportunity after part of her course assessment involved creating a proposal for a UQ Art Collection-based exhibition at the Museum. 

‘I completed the course Visual Arts Writing and Curating. Our final piece of assessment involved creating a proposal for a UQ Art Collection-based exhibition in one of the three gallery spaces on the third level of the Museum. We were told that some exhibition concepts may be selected by the Art Museum to be mounted, and I was thrilled to find out mine was chosen. I then worked closely with curator, Anna Briers, to develop the concept into an exhibition. The initial idea was significantly expanded beyond its original scope of a one-gallery collection show to span three galleries and include selected external loans and a new commission.’ 

In 2022, she was invited to curate the Churchie emerging art prize at the Institute of Modern Art.  

Currently (in 2024), Elena is Curator at Museum of Brisbane (MoB). She continues to build knowledge in contemporary Asian and Asian-Australian art, and has particularly enjoyed collaborating with BrisAsia Festival while at MoB. 

Headshot image by Chelsea Shotton

Gallery image by Claudia Baxter