Isabella Morales Salis
Painter
About
Isabella Morales Salis (b. 1995, Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil) is an emerging contemporary painter who currently resides and works in London, United Kingdom. She earned her BA in Multimedia Arts from Belas Artes, Lisboa, in 2019 and recently completed a full scholarship program at the Essential School of Painting (2023–24). Isabella creates enigmatic and surreal narratives, often influenced by her childhood experiences in Brazil, where she formed deep emotional connections to animals, contrasting with narrow societal perceptions of how a woman should be. She is also intrigued by how the experience of different geographies has shaped her artistic vision, frequently exploring the relationship between people and places, and using colour to merge abstraction with figuration.
​
Recently, with climate change tragedies affecting Brazil, Isabella's work has begun to reflect her frustration over the destruction of nature. She explores how her identity is inseparable from her environment, feeling a profound connection to the natural world. Her primarily female subjects inhabit a psychological space that evokes anxiety, discomfort, and ambiguity, often drawing conflict and inspiration from her relationships with the women in her life. The contradictions and duality of her childhood memories continue to add emotional depth to the fantastical realities present in her paintings.
