Elena Cusi-Wortham's was born in Mexico City in 1935 and starts her history in Mexico City with a degree in Social Sciences and then nursing and social work there before moving to Houston 1975 and earning a fine arts certificate at the Glassell School of Art in 1981. Elena went on to show in different places in Houston, at the Glassell School, Mother Dog Studios, Lawndale, Diverse Works, Buffalo Bayou Art Park, Project Row Houses and group shows in Houston's commercial galleries including several solo exhibitions at Hooks Epstein. In 1993 Elena Cusi-Wortham began work on public art projects starting with Houston's Spark Park Program, working with students to complete works in several parks including Moody Park, and one in Sugarland Texas. Next Wortham set her sights on Houston's downtown area and the The Cotswold Project and the South Central Police Station completing ambitious public works in cast bronze and ceramics.

"My work now, is very personal, with humor and the bizarre. I have tried to convey the notion of renewal, rebirth in nature. I use plant materials, all found in my garden, incorporating pieces of ceramic to show that if one leaves nature alone it will sprout into new life. I want to show that with patience and respect we can become advocates of our natural world that has been so exploited, poisoned, and distorted. My pieces in general are called RETOÑO, (in Spanish it means to bud or flower) because I do not like the word BUD in English! These plants and tree material have in them the history of this neighborhood, some more than 100 years old, older than the Heights, and full of forgotten stories and mysteries." Elena Cusi-Wortham's still works and lives in Houston's Historic Heights Area.