Elena Gantchikova

Elena Gantchikova-Mathiesen, pseudonym Elegantchikova, is a French interdisciplinary multimedia author and Architect of Visual Systems, based in Paris — a synesthetic artist, composer, concert pianist, PhD in Art History, woman of letters, and pedagogue. Sole heir to the "Gantchikov(a) & Mathiesen" archives since 1860.
Open to collaboration with museums, galleries, festivals, architects, and cultural institutions.
Practice and Method
Her practice unfolds through a continuous Physical → Digital → Physical cycle: drawing, painting, and photography pass through a complex digital synthesis before returning to material form as collectible visual works. Each work is conceived through a synesthetic method in which musical principles — harmony, rhythm, counterpoint, polyphony — are translated into color, light, and spatial structure: the formal logic of music becomes the formal logic of the image. Her paintings can thus be read simultaneously as musical scores.
Independent Architectural Variations
A work is never mechanically resized or cropped. Each piece is developed within a matrix that may include up to 69 independent Variations, following the geometric logic of the composition, in one or several orientations (horizontal, vertical,...

A visual artist and musician, 1st Prize of the Moscow Tchaikovsky Conservatory in composition, piano, theory, art history, and orchestral conducting, a French State scholarship recipient, she pursued advanced studies in Paris (1991–1995). Selected by Pierre Boulez at IRCAM / Centre Pompidou, she followed the Cursus in sound physics, sound synthesis, and psychoacoustics for composers. At the CNSMDP, spectral composition with Gérard Grisey, complemented by a residency with Helmut Lachenmann (Chartreuse). At the Sorbonne, research on Scriabin's synesthesia with Manfred Kelkel, then at EHESS/CNRS with Hugues Dufourt. A Franco-German grant enabled her to continue at TU Berlin (Folkmar Hein's studio) her research on sound synthesis and spatialization; residency at the Akademie der Künste Berlin. In 2001–2002, residency at the Paul Sacher Foundation (Basel).

Residencies & Foundations
• Akademie der Künste Berlin | Artist Residency
• IMEB (Bourges) | Electroacoustic Studio Residency
• Paul Sacher Stiftung (Basel) | Research Residency