Chelsea Selvan

Chelsea Selvan (b. 1997, Johannesburg, South Africa) is a mixed-media artist and curator. A 2019 graduate with distinction from the University of the Witwatersrand with a BA Fine Arts (Honours), Selvan's work explores the intersection of various art forms and fugitive nature of memory. built a strong foundation in the art industry through her work at esteemed institutions such as the Centre for the Less Good Idea, the Wits Art Museum, and more.

Selvan’s artistic practice embodies the sentiment of Alfred Lord Tennyson’s words, “I am a part of all that I have met,” reflecting her explorative creative process. She works with mixed media, collage, printmaking, immersive installations, poetry, and photography to create intricate and abstract collages of spaces, objects, and moments encountered daily. Her creation process is often triggered by the recollection of memories, home, and her interaction with the world.

Her printmaking engages fluid color fields, some carefully graded, others painterly, serving as a backdrop to dynamic compositions of calligraphic mark-making and floating geometric forms. These configurations tentatively notate her fleeting thoughts and echo architectural spaces imprinted in her mental and emotional fabric.

As a curator, Selvan heads the Editorial, Marketing, and Social Media department for Latitudes Online and the RMB Latitudes Art Fair. She is driven by art’s ability to evoke emotion, challenge perspectives, and spark dialogue. In 2022, she was awarded the prestigious ABSA L’Atelier award, recognizing her impact and contributions to contemporary art.