Elise Ansel was born and raised in New York City. She currently lives in Portland, Maine. Ansel earned a BA in Comparative Literature from Brown University. While at Brown, she studied painting at Brown and photography at RISD. She worked briefly in the film industry before deciding to make painting her first order medium. Ansel has exhibited her work throughout the United States and Europe. Her works are held in the permanent collections of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Krakow, the Bowdoin College Museum of Art and the Evansville Museum of Arts and Sciences. She is represented by Cadogan Contemporary in London, Danese/Corey in New York City, and Ellsworth Gallery in Santa Fe.