Born in Recife, Elza de Oliveira Sousa moved to Rio de Janeiro when she was 18 along with her husband, Gerson de Souza (1928–2007), who was also a painter. There, she worked as an embroiderer, studied theater and lyrical singing, and attended the famous course in the Museu de Arte Moderna do Rio de Janeiro (MAM Rio) taught by the artist Ivan Serpa (1923–1973), who trained several artists, and which was known for cultivating a “complete freedom of expression,” in the words of the critic Mário Pedrosa (1900–1981). Since 1964, she has participated in dozens of group and solo exhibitions, but this intense activity was not reflected in acquisitions of her works by public collections: only the MAM Rio and MASP have her works. Dentro de casa features a disquieting interplay of walls and plans with large paintings, in which she represented people in similar scale and features to those who inhabit this strange environment. Six people are depicted inside a house or a gallery with three large paintings hung, while one of the characters is holding a smaller painting as if offering it to the viewer. The interplay between mirroring and representation, in a succession of frames within frames, suggests a labyrinth of images within images.

— Adriano Pedrosa; Olivia Ardui, 2017

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