Elsa Hoffman is a sculptor and furniture maker in North Carolina, USA. She studied studio art at Oberlin College and assisted sculptor Patrick Dougherty. Using a handheld plasma cutter as a drawing tool, direct sculpting concrete onto steel armatures, and translating cut metal designs into textile patterns, Hoffman's practice explores the gestural qualities of metal and concrete.

Her work has been acquired by the Gregg Museum of Art and Design, the University of North Carolina, the Raleigh Municipal Art Collection, Duke Gardens, and the Julian and Josie Robertson Collection in New York City. She has completed residencies at The Steel Yard in Providence, Rhode Island and the Haystack Mountain School of Crafts in Deer Isle, Maine.

Hoffman has developed a process to integrate her intricate cut metal designs with the solidity and earthiness of concrete, brick, and other aggregate salvaged from old dumping sites and architectural ruins. Using furniture as a loose structure for making, she is interested in how sculptural forms, containing site-specific materials, can relate to the body and be used in function every day settings.

elsahoffmandesign@gmail.com