iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Elizabeth Briel @ebriel.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

It's official - I'm a product 😉 My Paris paper commissions and workshops are finally online. Feedback (and bookings!) much appreciated! www.ebriel.com/experiences

Three photos:
At left-one dark haired woman watches while another woman holds a paper screen in her hand, with cream colored paper. Both wearing black.
At center - a dark-haired woman holds a microphone, wearing black jacket and blue blouse
At right - a dark-haired woman stands in a room with a stone roof, next to a black and white artwork portrait on a white wall. At right of the portrait, a small green (papermaking) machine with motor on top

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Elizabeth Briel @ebriel.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

I recently learned the phrase: "Bâtir des châteaux en Espagne", which like 'Castles in the Air', refers to impossible dreams of happiness. And after nearly 2 years in Paris, Mme de Sévigné's reply 'One need only be in Spain to lose all desire to build castles there' rings true.

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Elizabeth Briel @ebriel.bsky.social · 30/11/2025

Great resource for those working in the visual arts in France. It breaks down charges associated with producing, exhibiting, and sharing artwork in varied contexts reseau-astre.org/ressources/r... This particular site is specific for Nouvelle-Aquitaine but can be modified for anywhere in the country

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Elizabeth Briel @ebriel.bsky.social · 25/11/2025

Explorations of Lisbon patterns with Ceramicas Vicente last December. Like many visitors I was mesmerized by the tiles that simultaneously protect and enhance the city's architecture

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Elizabeth Briel @ebriel.bsky.social · 25/11/2025

Finally managed to understand mid-tones when painting ceramic glazes at Ceramicas Vicente, Lisbon, December 2024 by interpreting the same motif over and over www.instagram.com/p/DD0liOsIWG...

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Elizabeth Briel @ebriel.bsky.social · 24/11/2025

"Cobalto / 鎂" Cobalt blues from my research of the past year: five centuries over two continents - Sintra, Porto and Lisbon; then Jingdezhen, Macau and Hong Kong

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Elizabeth Briel @ebriel.bsky.social · 24/11/2025

Only now am I catching up with this thread! Some images from my Azulejo / Chinese tile painting tile research from the past year. Early tiles in Portugal showed strong links with North African geometric designs. Clay was rolled in a relief pattern then colors are filled in like cloisonné enamel

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Elizabeth Briel @ebriel.bsky.social · 22/09/2025

This week in the studio: full-on paper production. Rags hang from every surface and dehumidifiers work overtime

pale blue rags hang from wooden shelves next to stacks of papers under a stone ceiling

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Elizabeth Briel @ebriel.bsky.social · 04/08/2025

Scottish artist Elizabeth Keith wrote of this woodblock print "Flower Street, Hong Kong" (c.1944): "A rather difficult one to print. I could not leave the printer to his own sweet will. I suppose that is why I had so few printed... There will never be a Flower Street like that again in Hong Kong"

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Elizabeth Briel @ebriel.bsky.social · 04/08/2025

A tiny, space-age looking Nakagin capsule bathroom

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Elizabeth Briel @ebriel.bsky.social · 16/07/2025

I've been listening to this podcast since researching a move to Paris several years ago, and am happy to discuss the nature of creativity, the trajectory of cultures through the medium of paper technologies, and a life lived internationally: laviecreativepodcast.com/2025/07/15/i...

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Elizabeth Briel @ebriel.bsky.social · 15/06/2025

Silkscreen monoprint of air pollution and hand-lettered text from my dad's final interview on Ruscombe handmade Margaux Premier Cru linen paper. 70 x 50cm, 2023 Source photo: Strasbourg c 1975

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Elizabeth Briel @ebriel.bsky.social · 13/06/2025

I'm joining the US Veterans and Military Families Caucus, the Diversity Caucus, Indivisible Paris and Democrats Abroad France to "protest against tyranny in the USA....We will rally in solidarity with thousands of "NO KINGS" protests taking place across the USA....and across the world"

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Elizabeth Briel @ebriel.bsky.social · 03/06/2025

...and found a visitor crawling up a shirt I had hanging next to the door. Twice I have stayed in hotel rooms with an active bedbug infestation, and twice (via pesticides, steam & isolation) I managed not to bring them home. Now, someone in my Paris building has made my worst nightmare come true.

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Elizabeth Briel @ebriel.bsky.social · 19/05/2025

Latest addition to the paper studio are vintage small library steps, found on Selency (for a third of what they usually cost). Most of my art books are kept in the archives a short walk away, but my paper books/books I've worked on will all come here as a resource during studio visits and ateliers

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Elizabeth Briel @ebriel.bsky.social · 14/05/2025

After years of wanting a steamer trunk in my life, I finally found one that fits the bill! From late 19th/early 20th century, it's in great condition. I will not be using it for clothing- at least for now. It's on rollers and will hold kitchen accessories as part of my mobile cuisine corner.

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Elizabeth Briel @ebriel.bsky.social · 07/05/2025

Berlin! This Saturday I'll be @hausdespapiers center for contemporary art in paper to share encounters with papermakers across Southeast Asia and China, papers from my China paper collection, and discuss links with contemporary art today. 10-11am, Seydelstrasse 30/Ecke, Elisabeth-Mara-Straße, Berlin

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Elizabeth Briel @ebriel.bsky.social · 23/03/2025

Excavation of embroidered words, visions, histories.

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Elizabeth Briel @ebriel.bsky.social · 18/03/2025

Thanks to #SouthwestAirlines for hassle-free changes (even on budget tickets) and generous baggage allowances. Been stressed about next month's US trip to see family for my mom's 80th birthday I and messed up on dates. Luckily the airline charged only US$3 (flight price difference) to date change!

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Elizabeth Briel @ebriel.bsky.social · 16/03/2025

Today I planned to pick up an electric screwdriver and finally assemble the couch delivered to my studio last week. Instead will spend the afternoon at the cinema after wrangling with PDFs. Still have not managed to shower at noon! Me in theory vs me in reality [photos by @natachalee.bsky.social ]

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Elizabeth Briel @ebriel.bsky.social · 13/03/2025

A rare exception to this is an upcoming week of working in the porcelain city of Jingdezhen China to research Ming Dynasty porcelain painting with cobalt glazes, for a better understanding of the origins of blue-and-white ceramics that became a part of everyday life in many parts of the world.

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Elizabeth Briel @ebriel.bsky.social · 13/03/2025

Residency applications pop up in my inbox and social media feeds but for the first time ever I've no desire to apply for them. I've moved to a city packed with arts and culture and the intense focus required to establish myself means nowhere else holds my attention-something I never thought possible

Photo of white vaulted stone space artists studio with fluorescent lighting, sink to the left and misc [paper] machine and luggage on white tiled floor. At bottom is "Demenage!!" ["Moved!!"] indicating the artist has moved studios into this space

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Elizabeth Briel @ebriel.bsky.social · 09/03/2025

Venus, a designer from Macau, is here in Paris for Fashion Week. She loves motorbikes and observing traffic wherever she travels. Of Paris she says: "Traffic lights for pedestrians are basically decorating." www.instagram.com/p/DG_bc4FzBh9/

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Elizabeth Briel @ebriel.bsky.social · 21/02/2025

Photos from my first [but not last] Paris paper tour include my China paper collection, one handmade by Tai people in Yunnan to wrap pu'erh tea for a century or more as it ages. Thanks to AAWE for organizing and bringing curiosity to the galleries on a rainy day [ALT text not working for me today]

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Elizabeth Briel @ebriel.bsky.social · 17/02/2025

I love Parisian stairways. Ours is more simple than @sardonicus.eu's beautiful example but it's home

Photo of curved wooden stairway, partially painted a deep red (at left) with black rails and small window at right

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Elizabeth Briel @ebriel.bsky.social · 13/02/2025

If you see this quote post with a beach photo from your gallery

white woman with brown hair kneels on sandy beach, pours from a red bucket onto a wooden frame [paper screen] with water and island behind and two large wooden screens in front, covered in white paper

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Elizabeth Briel @ebriel.bsky.social · 12/02/2025

Seven years ago this week, I gathered with my 4 siblings for a final photo with my dad. He'd been diagnosed with two forms of aggressive leukemia and had about a week left. In his final interview he discussed why having such short notice was a form of grace www.thecatholicspirit.com/news/local-n...

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Elizabeth Briel @ebriel.bsky.social · 12/02/2025

Friend's staying in Giza. I ask her how the food is. She's British AF: "So so and lukewarm but found falafel stand shall not starve." [Photo via TripAdvisor]

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Elizabeth Briel @ebriel.bsky.social · 11/02/2025

As I set up my paper archives and studio in Paris, I'm reminded the pain of organized storage is real -

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Elizabeth Briel @ebriel.bsky.social · 10/02/2025

@natachalee.bsky.social, a printmaker and student at Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne joined me last week to assist in the studio. She brought the freshness of southern French sunshine into midwinter grey Paris. We had a great week that spanned the routine of mundane studio tasks to exhibition visits

Young woman looks down at large rolls of cream colored paper

Two women look at thin wooden shelves, one partially pulled out to revel white paper

Young woman wrapped in pale blue blanket works cutting pale blue fabric at desk with strong light shining on face

Three women with motorized machine examine pieces of pale fabric in water

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Elizabeth Briel @ebriel.bsky.social · 02/02/2025

WeChat video (heavily filtered!) from my neighbor Xiao Yu, shot 3 years ago during Pandemic locked-in Hong Kong, making paper on a Kowloon rooftop in a swimming pool

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Elizabeth Briel @ebriel.bsky.social · 02/02/2025

Charlotte Perriand-adventurer, nomad, collaborator of Le Corbusier, wearer of necklaces of ball bearings-one of my favorite designers. She collaborated w/Phillips to create affordable designs like this mid-century lamp. I like to work with its warm glow at night next to vintage silk & bamboo sudare

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Elizabeth Briel @ebriel.bsky.social · 28/01/2025

Composite photo in my cave by painter Christophe Gonnet from studio visit earlier this week.

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Elizabeth Briel @ebriel.bsky.social · 26/01/2025

Setting up my little studio for dry media in the subterranean heart of the Marais. Luminotherapy a must! Pictured: paper made with blue jeans & tshirts, Beurer lamp, cave wall, assorted tiny paintbrushes, hand-painted blue-and-white porcelain table from Macau that inspired this year's main project

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Elizabeth Briel @ebriel.bsky.social · 25/01/2025

Exquisite paper installation by Tatiana Wolowska at Drawing Lab Paris plays with time, space, and your orientation between it all She's won the Drawing Lab's annual prize and it's evident why -

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Elizabeth Briel @ebriel.bsky.social · 25/01/2025

Paper people in Paris: The ABC's of Paper, a book focusing on the fundamentals of paper around the world (with particular attention to French and Japanese papers) is released this month. Two of the authors will discuss the book at Museum of Decorative Arts bookstore at 7pm

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Elizabeth Briel @ebriel.bsky.social · 25/01/2025

Last night's Parisian moment: getting locked in the laundromat when the lights and auto-lock went off at 11pm. Luckily a fellow immigrant and I managed to contact someone at the phone # which claimed to be 24/7 and actually, miraculously, was. No mauvais garcons in sight-

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Elizabeth Briel @ebriel.bsky.social · 23/01/2025

There's a lot of anger on social media. I read and scroll and remain aware (lots of muted words these days) but typically platform creativity vs amplifying outrage. Here's some morning sunshine from usually-grey Paris.

cropped image of open windows with grey shutters in Paris with sunlight grazing a cream colored wall

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Elizabeth Briel @ebriel.bsky.social · 23/01/2025

Me: emergency issues with my electric motor at outskirts of Paris where no one's (yet) willing to come help fix it @joyhuilin.bsky.social: "You need a project manager" She's not wrong. My poor Kowloon Critter hollander paper beater! Putting together a series of videos, photos and links to send today

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Elizabeth Briel @ebriel.bsky.social · 22/01/2025

I have just discovered and will forever be haunted by Great Art In Ugly Rooms @gaiur.bsky.social www.instagram.com/p/CT-sRBwlvI...

Dreary brown wood paneled room and floors with brown curtains around bleak windows and tacky 70s lighting fixture, a large orange sculpture with two blue vertical lines (Ron Gorchov, Brother II) skulks next to window

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Elizabeth Briel @ebriel.bsky.social · 21/01/2025

Caught the Arte Povera exhibition at Bourse de Commerce just before it closed. An array of the greats, was especially blown away by the elegant rippling sculptures of Pino Pascali who died at a young age, inspired by bombs and the sea

Pistoletto: white female greek statue buries face in pile of clothing

Sculpture by Pino Pascali: white abstract vertical waves against white background

Luciano Fabro's sculpture "De Italia": a half dozen leather scraps cut in the shape of a map of Italy hang horizontally from a white background

Sculpture by Emilio Prini: a slab of dark grey lead printed with white background and grey letters on white wall.

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Elizabeth Briel @ebriel.bsky.social · 20/01/2025

A selection of images on my paper IG account, from the weekend's conference about everything you could imagine and more on paper by Fondation Hermes, held at @museeguimet.bsky.social during its exhibition "Tang China: A Cosmopolitan Dynasty [7th-10th Century]" www.instagram.com/p/DFC6iaLCRQ...

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Elizabeth Briel @ebriel.bsky.social · 20/01/2025

Unwrapped antique paper screen and altar table last night and this corner of my studio/stockage at least gives the illusion of a neat space, a tidy life, when it is ever anything but

Carved red-lacquered small altar table set against stone wall. Underneath are a pair of black boots and a red metal can with Chinese text denoting its use for fire prevention

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Elizabeth Briel @ebriel.bsky.social · 19/01/2025

This afternoon I'm going to see Jia Zhang-ke's latest film 风流一代 [english title: Caught by the Tides] www.advitamdistribution.com/films/les-fe... Part of it is set in Datong which I once visited to try my favorite Shanxi noodles. The magnificent Hanging temple & 10000 buddhas were mere accessories -

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Elizabeth Briel @ebriel.bsky.social · 19/01/2025

One of my favorite Hong Kong artists is at it again, creating work from everyday materials that speaks to the lived experience of those you'll rarely see in the city's galleries. He posts them in public spaces waiting for observant passersby to notice Image from his IG www.instagram.com/g.o.h.u.n.g/

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Elizabeth Briel @ebriel.bsky.social · 18/01/2025

An old window from Shanghai was turned into a mirror by a French family, who brought it to Hong Kong and now I bring it to Paris, unwrapping life from HK and finding where the bits and pieces can fit.

Square wooden window with geometric Chinese designs backed by mirror reflect the artist wearing black and blue, against a stone background

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Elizabeth Briel @ebriel.bsky.social · 17/01/2025

Paris metro poetry: "I knew I'm proud of it weaving through winters keeping alive in me invincible suns" Gabrielle Filteau-Chiba "Drops of rain", The barbed wire forest, 2024 Poetry from the author's 8 years living alone in a forest cabin in Quebec www.castorastral.com/livre/la-for...

Red sign with white text over metal metro advert:
"j'ai su j'en suis fiere
enfiler les hivers
gardant vivant en moi
d'invincibles soleils"

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