I’m her and sometimes she’s me
Elise Dervichian & Lina Wielant
Elise Dervichian and Lina Wielant’s work is rooted in a long-standing friendship. This was the starting point for their interest in physical metamorphosis, following a lifetime of comparisons and remarks made to them both since childhood. The way of comparing and criticizing bodies, as regularly seen in pop culture, became a source of inspiration for their project. Inspired by ancient renaissance diptychs and late 20th century tableau-like photography, Elise and Lina create scenes, embodying different roles, addressing conformity and the ever-changing definition of conventional beauty.When parodying these roles, they seek to highlight how identity and physicality are connected.Through their images, they invite you to question the perception of diverse bodies in society.
Elise Dervichian and Lina Wielant are two Belgian artist-photographers based in Brussels. They have a history of collaborating but launched a new project together in 2020. Studying at ESA le 75 from 2015 to 2018, Elise Dervichian deepened herself into the reportage style. Towards the end of her studies, she worked as an assistant curator at La cité des Arts in Saint Denis, Réunion Island. Her work is focused on documentary photography, working on societal subjects such as rape culture or the Armenian diaspora in Belgium. Lina Wielant graduated from Sint Lukas Hogeschool Brussel, where she primarily focused on analogue darkroom techniques, with a predilection for editing photo-books. In August 2022 she participated in a residency at DecorAtelier, (Brussels) with the organisation Dis Mon Nom, which aims to shed light on invisibilised people. Together, Elise Dervichian and Lina Wielant combine analogue and digital photography, mainly through staged self-portraits and photo-montages.