ilona romule

bio

Graduated from Latvian Art Academy in 1985 (MFA in Ceramics). Member of IAC since 2001. Freelance artist, working with high temperature porcelain. Ilona has held 20 solo shows, over 50 International Juried Competitions, over 30 group exhibitions, winning 8 awards, including: “Mino’95” Competition in Japan; 6th Taiwan Golden Ceramics Awards in 2000; Icheon World Ceramic Biennale in 2001, 2003; “6th international Small teapot Competition”, Grand Prize, Pomona Ceramics Museum, CA, USA in 2014.

24 International Collections of Ceramics including: ICS Kecskemet, Hungary; Taipei County Ceramics Museum, Taiwan; FLICAM, Fuping, China; Kennedy Museum of Art, Athens, OH, USA.

Leading Plaster Mold making and China Painting Masterclasses, lectures and presentations at Universities and Art Centers in Latvia, Hungary, USA, China, Australia, Turkey, Israel. Regularly invited as artist-in-residence and to International Symposia.

artist statement

DESIRE

“All my artworks are figurative and the figure is at times close to Desire itself. The figure-matrix, like the unconscious as described by Freud, acts like a language of Desire. Desire as a primary mode for communication expands the possibilities of figurative art with a bold, expressionistic style. Love, lust, and desire – both spiritual and physical – are among the dominant themes in the thematic of Desire in my female, male sculptures, and mythological creatures.

One provocative aspect of these works is not their imagery, per se, but the manner by which many of them take intimate experiences and translate them into public expression. Desire is a complex human emotion, direct emotion, raw feeling… But Art is not a mirror…”

PORCELAIN AS A LANGUAGE

“I refer to my Art as, three-dimensional stories in colors. Drawing continues the form and the form continues the drawing, while together they make a story. Both the events of my daily life and my imagination are reflected in my work. As well as a game with symbols and mystical fantasy creatures… (…) Everybody has their own story. This is a deeply individual matter. I make one-of-the-kind artworks, using industrial processes. The material and technique should not be the primary focus. They should simply be professional enough not to surpass the idea. Porcelain is the language of my “story”, and this language should be fluent and flawless. It is not important in what language you keep silent, The most important is in what language you speak…”

exhibitions