Els van Houtert

A person sits on a stool in a bright workspace and smiles toward the camera. Their head rests on one hand, with the upper body leaning slightly forward. The person is wearing a dark blue top and dark trousers. Shelves, work materials, and a work surface in the background suggest a studio or workshop setting. Daylight enters the room from the side.

Els van Houtert (she/her) is a multidisciplinary performance artist and artistic researcher based in Vienna whose work involves embodied experience, ceramics, drawing, installation and writing. She holds a master’s degree in art and science from the Vienna University of Applied Art (2024) and has an academic background in anthropology and religious science. Her practice focuses on physical experiences and encounters with materials of daily life. Through a micro-phenomenological lens, Els van Houtert explores the subtle sensory relationships between a person and others as well as the material world surrounding those other. She treats the body as a primary place of exploration and creates performance pieces and collaborations that are often interactive and call for collective ritualisation and reflection.

Works at brut

Handle with care feat. Huggy Bears Part 1&2 – Bathroom as Stage – Stage as Bathroom (imagetanz 2026)