ARTIST’S STATEMENT

"My goal as an artist, is to create art that is not only pleasing to look at, and touch, but that also fills the observer with a sense of the healing energy permeating and surrounding the work, whether it be a painting, a mosaic or a stone sculpture. I have always believed that there is a profound connection between the healing arts and art itself. From the beginning seeds of conception of a work of art, there is a connection to the soul of the artist, his or her pain, love of life and process of healing is conveyed in the final outcome. The process of creating is a process of letting go, and allowing the work to evolve. As we heal, so we create, and through the creation of new life (or art) we also heal.

My mosaics are inspired both by my passion for sculpture and my love of stained glass. Glass is the perfect canvas for light, it increases both the visual and the emotional interpretation of the work. I also enjoy creating stories with my mosaics. I am currently working on a series of mosaic sculptures, both two and three-dimensional representations, on the self."

PROFILE

Illona received her education at the Rochester Institute of Technology and the Nazareth Academy of the Arts in Rochester, New York. She studied stone sculpting under Ante Marinovic. Her work has been exhibited, old and featured throughout the United States over the years as well as many private collections and commission.

"Ilona's formal Art studies over the past 20 years have taken her on a journey through Drawing, Painting, Lithography, Stained Glass Design and Construction, Woodworking, Creative Design, 3D Design, Mosaic and Collage, Her unique ability to self-teach, have ALL influenced her art today.

But it was after taking a stone sculpting class while living in San Diego, California, that she knew she had found her passion. The challenge of working with stone has been a profoundly spiritual experience, both personally, and as an artist. Her sculptural subjects range from representational abstract forms, influenced by the human body itself, to the sensuality of organic shapes in nature - forms that just flow from within ... throughout. Her paintings also reflect a love of nature both on land and in the ocean. Visionary art is much like the process of life. It takes first the vision, then patience, trust, love and acceptance of what is, or the TAO to finally complete the art."