About:

I explore ideals of re-placing the purity and innocence back into life; regifting people's imagination and liberation. Since I was a young child, I saw the world as cold, dark, and cruel. Any chance to express my truest self was deflected by a social standard I never agreed to. I’ve always enjoyed bright colors and bubble gum pop, I loved to dance, and I loved my personality until I was conditioned to change it, to fit in a mold as a young black man. The was no space for color, for queer. In my art, I’m alchemising shame. 

 

My name is Elio Wallace I am an editorial photographer, filmmaker, and creative director. I was born and am currently working in Los Angeles, but I was raised just north in a white rural suburb. My artistic expressions consist of fashion, wardrobe styling, set design, model, actor, and location scouting. I utilize people I know or find in passing, They are the canvas and I create a story around the feeling they exude, or recreate scenarios of my lived experiences. I produce my works mostly DIY, with my small studio set up or public locations, thrifted props, and clothing. I love the versatility of digital photography and the way I can manipulate light and scenery to convey emotion. 

 

Currently, my influences are Tyler the Creator, his fashion line Golf Le Fleur, the color and preppy attire, the filmmaker Luca Guadagnino how his movies urge you to pay attention to minute details, & his ability to showcase feeling through silence. My mother is also a great influence, succumbing to a nervous breakdown in my youth she always remained a vibrant outspoken force in the home. She urged you not to care what others thought and to shine regardless. Some of my peers were ashamed to share the looks I shot of them, because of the “colorful feminine touch” Even so, I was still able to create two volumes of my magazine SixDay within the same year. Post-pandemic, I took an eight-week trip to Italy with my brother that spawned a spontaneous mini-movie which ushered me into a new world - as a filmmaker. A few years later Elio’s Room was born - a short film I directed about a dark period I was going through, and how I evolved during that time.

 

All in all, I make these artworks to share messages of hope, love, community, internal growth, and healing. I want to be able to have a platform to share resources and create a community through artists who have a message to share. I want to create stability for myself and my loved ones. I want to be able to inspire people with my vision. I want people to look within themselves and truly know they can be who they desire to be. With my art, I’m unraveling societal norms and inviting others to do the same.