Miriam Elia
(b. 1982, London, UK) is a visual artist and broadcaster from North London. Her diverse work includes short films, animations, illustrated books, prints, drawings, stand-up comedy and surreal writing for radio.
She is best known for her art book We go to the gallery, in which she illustrated the classic Key Words with Peter and Jane Ladybird book characters grappling with conceptual art.
Miriam graduated with a Master’s degree from the Royal College of Art in 2006, having completed a BA in graphic design at Brighton. In 2008, she was nominated for a prestigious Sony Award for her debut BBC Radio 4 sketch show, A Series Of Psychotic Episodes, a surreal comedy series.
She frequently collaborates in writing with her brother, Ezra Elia, and in 2011, they published The Diary Of Edward The Hamster; the story of a philosophical yet deeply troubled hamster living and contemplating the meaning of life from the solitary confines of his cage.
In 2012, Miriam wrote and starred in her own comedy mini-series for Channel 4’s Random Acts, in the short film strand Survival, which tells the story of five different animals living in and handling the circumstances of modern society in contrasting ways. From a bunny claiming benefits and selling ‘pure’ carrots to get by, to a wealthy hipster fox partying her life away in fashionable Shoreditch, in East London.
Miriam continues to create her “learning scheme” books for her independent publishing press Dung Beetle and is artist-in-residence at The Critic magazine.
www.miriamelia.co.uk
