prologue
In a similar vein to Ovid’s Metamorphoses, whose heroes are linked by perpetual change and compelled by the psychological, Ilona’s sculptures are connected by the act of mythical transformation. It is Ilona’s perception of intermediate or parallel worlds, where her archetypal figures connect and interact with each other, which drives her creativity.
As the descendant of many generations of foresters, Ilona grew up surrounded by woods and often accompanied her father, a trained carpenter, on his daily visits to the forest. She followed the paths of the deer’s, helped to provide feed for them and assisted her father in the construction of deer stands. Ilona learned the trees needed to be cared for, in order for them to flourish there had to be a balance between logging and reforestation. She smelled the seasons, tasted the fruits, watched the animals. It was in the forest Ilona experienced both living and dying. And if, perhaps, she glimpsed an elf or heard a root troll giggle, it seemed only natural for this to happen in the forest where fairy tales and fables began. So it was that Ilona discovered what has remained her theme throughout her artistic career – transformation.
Ilona’s characters live through their transformation. (OR: Transformation breathes life into Ilona’s characters.) We encounter them in the moment of their change; in between one entity and the other, no longer the original but not yet the new. These characters are sometimes half-human, half-animal; occasionally they resemble plants. Children appear to be old, and elders regain their youth. As with Ovid’s tales, Ilona’s characters sometimes face ordeals, or must confront their own transition. They often are quietly comical in nature, these characters who strive to be everything to everyone.
Each character has their own story and, as they tell us of their pasts and future, it is their present which moves us. They may be statues, but they are certainly not static. They may be made of wood, but they are not wooden. With her artistic skill and creative nature Ilona imbues her sculptures with life. Under her hands they flow with all the emotions of life, like a poem these characters move through their transformations, sometimes floating and sometimes flying.
It is Ilona’s craftmanship and imagination which makes the impossible possible, as all of her sculptures are formed from one solitary trunk of wood.
This desire to work with fairy tales and myths brings its own challenges. Like a joke which is not understood and therefore no longer funny, there is a chance the story will be misinterpreted. In the end, Ilona’s figures and their fairy tale quality is individual and it is up to the viewer to discover what they are trying to say. These interpretations also shift and change in a constant dance with the experience and understanding of the viewer. At first glance, Ilona’s sculptures are accessible; but this is also impermanent. These sculptures populate the parallel world she creates, a world with it’s own inherent rules, formed by art but informed by myth.
In a similar vein to Ovid’s Metamorphoses, whose heroes are linked by perpetual change and compelled by the psychological, Ilona’s sculptures are connected by the act of mythical transformation. It is Ilona’s perception of intermediate or parallel worlds, where her archetypal figures connect and interact with each other, which drives her creativity.
As the descendant of many generations of foresters, Ilona grew up surrounded by woods and often accompanied her father, a trained carpenter, on his daily visits to the forest. She followed the paths of the deer’s, helped to provide feed for them and assisted her father in the construction of deer stands. Ilona learned the trees needed to be cared for, in order for them to flourish there had to be a balance between logging and reforestation. She smelled the seasons, tasted the fruits, watched the animals. It was in the forest Ilona experienced both living and dying. And if, perhaps, she glimpsed an elf or heard a root troll giggle, it seemed only natural for this to happen in the forest where fairy tales and fables began. So it was that Ilona discovered what has remained her theme throughout her artistic career – transformation.
Ilona’s characters live through their transformation. (OR: Transformation breathes life into Ilona’s characters.) We encounter them in the moment of their change; in between one entity and the other, no longer the original but not yet the new. These characters are sometimes half-human, half-animal; occasionally they resemble plants. Children appear to be old, and elders regain their youth. As with Ovid’s tales, Ilona’s characters sometimes face ordeals, or must confront their own transition. They often are quietly comical in nature, these characters who strive to be everything to everyone.
Each character has their own story and, as they tell us of their pasts and future, it is their present which moves us. They may be statues, but they are certainly not static. They may be made of wood, but they are not wooden. With her artistic skill and creative nature Ilona imbues her sculptures with life. Under her hands they flow with all the emotions of life, like a poem these characters move through their transformations, sometimes floating and sometimes flying.
It is Ilona’s craftmanship and imagination which makes the impossible possible, as all of her sculptures are formed from one solitary trunk of wood.
This desire to work with fairy tales and myths brings its own challenges. Like a joke which is not understood and therefore no longer funny, there is a chance the story will be misinterpreted. In the end, Ilona’s figures and their fairy tale quality is individual and it is up to the viewer to discover what they are trying to say. These interpretations also shift and change in a constant dance with the experience and understanding of the viewer. At first glance, Ilona’s sculptures are accessible; but this is also impermanent. These sculptures populate the parallel world she creates, a world with it’s own inherent rules, formed by art but informed by myth.