Élle de Bernardini (1991) lives and works in Rio de Janeiro. She has a classical ballet background from the Royal Academy of Dance in London. She is a transgender woman, with a production permeated by her biography, and she is the first trans woman to have a work acquired by a public museum in Brazil. Her works address the intersections between gender, sexuality, politics, and identity, as well as the histories of humanity and art.

Her work has been exhibited in national institutions such as Museu de Arte de São Paulo, Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo, Museu de Arte do Rio, Museu de Arte do Rio Grande do Sul, Museu Nacional da República, Memorial da América Latina, MAC-RS, Pivô Arte e Pesquisa, Farol Santander, and Centro Cultural São Paulo. She also participated in the 12th Mercosur Biennial. Her works are part of important collections, including Museu de Arte do Rio Grande do Sul (Porto Alegre), MAC-RS (Porto Alegre), MAC-Niterói (Rio de Janeiro), Coleção Santander Brasil (São Paulo), Museu de Arte do Rio (Rio de Janeiro), Museu de Arte Moderna do Rio (Rio de Janeiro), Fundação de Artes Marcos Amaro (Itu), Mamam (Recife), Embaixada da Itália (Brasília), Museu Nacional da República (Brasília), Pinacoteca do Estado de São Paulo, and the French government collection at the Bibliothèque Nationale de France (Paris).

In Medéia (2021), the artist uses the notion of skin to expand the idea of the canvas as a self-contained surface that forbids touch. The familiar “Don’t touch” rule does not apply to these works, which not only invite touch but demand it. For the artist, each peludinho (little furry being) possesses its own life and personality, changing with the wind and adapting to the place where it is installed. They can also be combed and modified by their owners. Each peludinho is like a pet artwork.

The work was exhibited in A Primeira Década – Exposição de 10 anos de carreira at Galeria Luis Maluf, São Paulo (2025).