Artist Profile | Cartoon & Caricature

Elena Ospina

She is a Colombian illustrator and cartoonist who began her work in the newspaper “El Espectador”. In the 90s she worked for various book publishers and was part of collectives of illustrators and cartoonists such as "El cartel del humor". Later, she dedicated herself to the creation and illustration of editorial and advertising projects for America and Europe, and part of her works are published in newspaper articles, books and magazines. In 1997 she collaborated with Unicef and the Presidency of the Republic of Colombia for the rights of children in various campaigns in favor of children. In 2007 she settled in Madrid, and participated in various exhibitions and campaigns on equal rights, gender equality, freedom of expression and ecology. In 2008 she was named ambassador of honor for the city of Granada, Spain. In 2009, she was invited to join "Cartooning for Peace" in France, an organization created by Nobel Peace Prize winner Kofi Annan and cartoonist Plantu. She is also part of the collectives "Cartoon Movement", "FECO España" and "Carton Club", among others. In 2011 she settled in Texas, United States, and joined the Society of Illustrators (SCBWI). She has been invited to the City of Ideas Mexico meeting, from 2011 to 2016, where she has participated with her drawings. In addition, she has been a judge in prestigious international contests such as "World Press Cartoon" in Portugal, "Aydin Dogan" in Turkey, "Piracicaba Humor Exhibition" in Brazil and many others. She has won more than 60 prizes in graphic humor and illustration contests in Italy, France, Germany, China, Mexico, the United States, Israel and Belgium. In 2013 she won the silver prize at Cannes at the Illustration Exhibition "Imagen Palabra" in Bogotá, a recognition of her work. In 2019 she received the "Notario al humor" award, awarded by the University of Alicante, Spain.