"Salt on silk forms icicles"
Aizkraukle district newspaper "Staburags" Friday, March 11, 2022
"I paint and feed my soul," says Ilva Ievāne.
This week, Aizkraukle, a teacher and, in her spare time, also an artist, Ilva Ievāne, opened an exhibition of painted silk and felt works at the Staburags Parish Conference House, “I Enter at Home in the Spring.” This is her first exhibition of painted silk in four years. She tells Staburag about her sources of inspiration, as well as the different techniques used.
Created in five years
"That's how I treat myself," is the artist's answer to the question, "What is the source of inspiration for my work?" Each work has a story about why it was created. Since my profession is a teacher of visual arts and home economics, things related to art and handicrafts are a part of life,” says Ilva Ievāne. The exhibition in Staburags shows what has been created in the last five years. Everyday, working in the education system, there are only evenings and days off for art.
Painted silk is not only artistically beautiful, but also practical, such as a scarf, shawl, and what is not on display in the exhibition - silk ties.
The use of felt can also be seen in the Staburag meeting house. They were made five years ago when the artist spent six months in Sweden. "At that time, felt was in vogue and I was able to test my theoretical knowledge in practice - how it fits together with other materials - silk and cotton. Complemented with beads, the created work becomes luxurious, ”says the author of the work.
The painting as a poem comes from inspiration
Every viewer can see something different in abstract silk paintings, depending on the mood of the moment. The artist says her grandchildren see snakes in one of them and stones in another. Some of the works are created by floating paint on silk, and the result depends more on the laws of physics than the artist's hands. There are works in which the contours are concrete, covered with silver.
The works are made at the level of the senses, not with a practical approach, just as the poet created the poem. "If I say to myself - I'm painting now - nothing works. There are days when a smooth painting is made after a painting. There are also times when you have to place an order and the work comes through torment at the last minute. Silk is mostly painted in daylight, not under artificial lighting, so night is not the best time to work, ” says Ilva.
Sharing various secrets of the painting technique, Ilva Ievāne shows a work that uses paraffin, which fills the area on the silk, preventing paint from entering it. Paraffin waxed in other works is broken or crushed. As a result, cracks form, in which paint is absorbed. The marble effect is created by tying the fabric and then treating it with paint. Long vertical lines on the silk can be created using the batik technique, and the exhibition creates a work in which the trees that make up the forest can be unequivocally recognized. Fuzzy, ice-flower-like areas of color occur when salt is added to wet paint.
The light and bright spring exhibition in Staburags Parish Conference House can be seen until April 18. Works can also be purchased.
/Imants Kaziļuns/