Elsa Björk-Liselius was an artist who was mainly known for her watercolours and public works.
Elsa Björk-Liselius was born in Tyringe in southern Sweden in 1915. Her father, Karl-Erik Björk, was the director of a tool factory in the town. Elsa Björk-Liselius studied at Signe Barth’s school of painting in 1940—1959. She was also interested in sculpture and therefore also studied at Lena Börjeson's school of sculpture — an education carried out in Börjeson’s own flat. In 1938, she married Erik Liselius, a civil engineer, but the marriage came to an end in 1965 when the couple were divorced.
Elsa Björk-Liselius was an eminent painter of watercolours who received good reviews. When she participated in an exhibition in Gothenburg in 1966, her watercolours were described as “quivering colour melodies building an idiosyncratically composed chord and airy inversions”. She herself asserted that there was no reason to use watercolours cautiously, as was the custom in the 1700s. Instead, she spread out her watercolours in thick “disrespectful” layers. She also worked in oils, mainly with motifs taken from nature. At an exhibition in Kungsbacka in 1975, she described her work as “emotional pictures” and used poems instead of giving them titles.
Elsa Björk-Liselius is even more well known for her public works. With Willy Lindeberg, she created a 30-metre-square wall decoration, Outdoor symphony in Malmö in 1964, a commission by the architect Fritz Jaenecke. The material consisted of slabs of glass from Kosta, combined with natural stone. Elsa Björk-Liselius was active in the artists’ association Konstnärernas Samarbetsorganisation, KSO. Her art can currently be seen at the Ystad art museum, among other places.
Elsa Björk-Tiselius died in 2007 in Malmö. She lies buried at the Limhamn Cemetery.