Jelena Fužinato has studied painting at the Academy of Arts in Banjaluka and Belgrade. She continued her education in art theory at AALTO University Helsinki and the University of Arts in Berlin, where she gained her Master’s degree. She works as visual artist and lecturer at Berlinische Galerie, Museum for Modern Art, Photography and Architecture and the University of Arts in Berlin.

Jelena works in drawing and installation media to explore authoritarian relations inside institutions such as families, schools, museums and states. The question of how laws, rules, and power construct social norms and influence the behaviour, knowledge and skills of people has been the focus of her work in recent years.

Fužinato deals with actual events but uses speculation and fiction in their treatment and presentation. The themes and methods that she chooses are frequently contraposition from the central narratives and often talk about marginal social positions of things and beings. Her layered approach brings together existing references and fabricated information to generate new metaphorical narration.