Born in Campinas, Brazil, Iluá lives and creates her works in London, where she has lived for over half of her life, which is precisely why it’s so difficult to decide whether she is a Brazilian artist living in the U.K. or a British artist born accidentally in Brazil.
Iluá is a conceptual artist whose work is predominantly figurative and whose aesthetic visions often present strong connections with anatomy, making use of the human body as an expression of existence made real.
She places the human condition under a magnifying glass, which is probably why her practice speaks of complex semiotic narratives. The many layers of her work lead us towards an understanding and exploration of the faith and symbolism present in both Christianity and the universality of mythological archetypes.
Many of Iluá’s works are three dimensional, and in this interview she explains not only her love of working with glass, but also the pleasure she finds in solving the technical problems she encounters on the journey from the birth of a concept to the materialisation of the piece. Our meandering encounter was as revealing as it was seductive. Her train of thought knows no shortcuts and, after listening to her reflect – with such assertiveness, grace and wisdom – about her art and her life, you will be grateful that she has not skimped on any of the details.
Discover her first artistic memories, the way in which her Neo-Gothic dandyism is entwined within her London life, the communion that exists between her voluptuously-baroque, intellectual nature and the almost minimalist neatness of her work.
Also discover how the destructive aspects of vanity have inspired one of her favourite glass sculptures, how the baroque nature of colonial Brazil gains expression through her stylistic passions, and how her most recent exhibition at the College of Optometrists has allowed her to engage with the martyrdom of Santa Lucia from an unexpected, autobiographical perspective.
If, like us, you believe that there is nothing more fascinating than the indomitable ambition of a cultured, intellectually restless and irreverently sophisticated woman, then this conversation will, undoubtedly, be an elixir for your senses.
And now, enjoy the interview!
Listen to Podcast
This interview was recorded on the 13th of December 2019 and released on the 15th of April 2020
Related Links
Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook
References during the interview
Goldsmiths 04:23 | Dadaism 05:08 | Marcel Duchamp 05:11 | Artist Residency 05:36 | The College of Optometrists 05:39 | Pathos Ocularis 06:15 | Museum Curator: Neil Handley 08:25 | Santa Lucia – Saint Lucy 09:41 | Moorfields Eye Hospital 11:01 | Adrian Gwillym 25:28 | Costumier 25:31 | British Optical Association Museum 27:19 | São Paulo 29:51 | Itatiba 29:53 | Barts Pathology Museum 31:01 | Murano (Murano & Venetian Glass) 33:26 | Bohemia 33:28 | The Louvre 35:12 | Van Gogh Museum 35:13 | The British Museum 35:15 | Medusa (Sculpture) 35:44 | Victoria & Albert Museum 35:51 | Medusa (Myth) 36:11 | Minotaurs of the Mind 37:27 | Greek Mythology 38:48 | Fin de siècle 39:29 | Sigmund Freud 39:41 | Gustav Klimt 39:42 | Friedrich Nietzsche 39:44 | Gustav Mahler 39:45 | Medusa’s Head by Freud 40:01 | Femme Fatale 40:16 | Psychology 40:18 | Psychoanalysis 40:19 | Lost-wax casting 42:07 | Kiln 43:36 | Lead Crystal Glass 46:46 | Glass Hearts/Palpitations 47:02 | Colin Reid 47:18 | National Trust 48:16 | Sutton House 48:17 | Savill Garden in Windsor Park 48:23 | Punhados de Possibilidades 51:04 | Museu Padre Lima, Itatiba 51:27 | Flagellation & Cilice 52:11 | The Pudica Pose 52:19 | Praxiteles 52:25 | Venus 52:28 | Aphrodite of Knidos 52:30 | Aphrodite 52:37 | Demeter 52:39 | Venus of Milo 53:11 | Tacita Dean 54:19 | Veins of Vanity 56:40 | Vanitas 56:57 | Corset 57:40 | Leighton House Museum 01:01:23 | Tonia Merz 01:01:48 | Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) 01:03:24 | Baroque 01:08:19 | Catholic Liturgy 01:09:24 | Danila Tarcinale 01:11:11 | Rosary 01:11:25
Image Credits
Portrait by Marcio Del Nero, hair & make up by Gil Anderson. 2019 | Modelling for Sportswear magazine in Brazil aged 19 | Wearing a corset by Tonia Merz, photograph by Marcio del Nero. 2017 | Photoshoot by Marcio del Nero, hair & make up by Gil Anderson. 2017 | Photograph by Ana Isabel. 2017
Despair
Despair, plaster, life size body cast 59 x 58 x 61cm, 2004-16. Part of the Minotaurs of the Mind collection. Shown in situ at Brompton Cemetery Chapel, 2016.
Self-Portrait as Santa Lucia
Self-Portrait as Santa Lucia mixed media, d: variable, 2019. Exhibited as part of ‘Pathos Ocularis – The Beautiful and the Curious‘, September 2019 – May 2020 (exhibition extended due to Covid-19. Check website for details.
Palpitations
Palpitations is a series of meticulously made glass Hearts displayed on vintage saucers.The series was commissioned by the Kabinett Gallery in Boston for the ‘Killers and Thrillers’ exhibition.
Eyeconography
Eyeconography of Pathos and Pathology. Glass and metal, d: 32cm 2019. Part of Pathos Ocularis, exhibited at The British Optical Association Museum, London.
Medusa
Medusa, lead crystal glass, 2012. 156 x 35 x 31cm. Part of the Minotaurs of the Mind collection. Shown in situ at Brompton Cemetery Chapel, 2016 & National Trust Sutton House, 2012.
Pudica Without Pose
Pudica Without Pose, mixed media 2010. Exhibited as part of Punhados de Possibilidades at the Museu Padre Lima, Itatiba, Brazil, 2011.
Decadence
Exuberance 24c gold & glass on silk velvet, 30cm x 30cm. 2012 | Luxury I 24c gold & glass on silk velvet, 30cm x 30cm. 2010 | Nobility 24c gold & glass on silk velvet, 30cm x 30cm. 2010 | In situ at L’Escargot Members Club, London.
Flagellation (Italian Rosary) and Cilice
Flagellation (Italian Rosary) and Flagellation (French Rosary) Leather, wood, brass, and crystals, 2008 | Cilice Brass and enamel, 2011
Veins of Vanity
Veins of Vanity II life size body cast in optical glass, 40.5 x 30.5 x 20 cm. 2011 | In situ at Brompton Cemetery Chapel, 2016 | Veins of Vanity I life size body cast in optical glass, 40.5 x 30.5 x 20 cm. 2006. In situ in Shoreditch Town Hall, 2010
Stigmata Eyes
Stigmata Eyes glass & plaster, 15 x 12 cm. d: variable. Part of Pathos Ocularis, exhibited at The British Optical Association Museum, London.
Production by Carla Tofano & Toby Deveson | Subtitles by Valentina Sarno | Onset artwork: Photography by Toby Deveson & drawing of Carla by Alexandra Veres | Title music written and performed by Maya Petrovna | Cameras & Sound kindly supplied by Jim Shannon & Murray Stewart
Nata a Campinas, in Brasile, Iluá vive e crea a Londra, dove ha vissuto per più della metà della sua vita. È per questo che risulta difficile dire se sia un’artista brasiliana che vive nel Regno Unito, oppure un’artista britannica che per i casi della vita è nata in Brasile.
Iluá è un’artista concettuale il cui lavoro è predominantemente figurativo, e le cui visuali estetiche presentano un forte legame con l’anatomia delle forme, e con il corpo umano che diventa espressione dell’esistenza fatta materia.
Iluá esamina la condizione umana sotto la lente di ingrandimento, e forse per quello il suo lavoro artistico apporta sempre complessi collegamenti semiotici. Questi strati ci riportano sempre alla comprensione e all’esplorazione della fede e dei simbolismi presenti nel cristianesimo e nell’universalità degli archetipi mitologici.
Molte delle opere di Iluá sono tridimensionali, e in questa intervista ci spiega non solo del suo amore per il lavoro con il vetro, ma anche del piacere che prova nel risolvere i problemi tecnici insiti nel materializzare l’opera. Questo incontro di largo respiro è stato sia rivelatore che seducente. Il filo dei suoi pensieri non conosce scorciatoie, e quando l’ascolterete riflettere decisa, eppure aggraziata e saggia sull’arte e la vita, sarete grati che non vi abbia risparmiato i dettagli.
Scoprirete i suoi primi ricordi artistici, il modo in cui il suo dandismo neogotico si intreccia all’interno della sua vita londinese, la comunione che esiste tra la sua intellettualità voluttuosamente barocca e la limpidezza, quasi minimalista, del suo lavoro.
Esplorerete anche gli aspetti distruttivi della vanità che però hanno ispirato una delle sue più amate sculture in vetro, il temperamento barocco del Brasile coloniale che si esprime attraverso le sue passioni stilistiche e la sua più recente mostra al College of Optometrists di Londra, che le ha permesso di rivisitare il martirio di Santa Lucia da una prospettiva autobiografica e quindi unica.
Se come noi sapete che non esiste nulla di più affascinante che l’indomita ambizione di una donna colta, intellettualmente nonconformista e irriverentemente sofisticata, questa conversazione sarà, senza dubbio, nettare per i vostri sensi.
E ora, godetevi l’intervista!
Ascolta il Podcast
Questa intervista è stata registrata il 13 dicembre 2019 e rilasciata il 15 aprile 2020
Link correlati
Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook
Riferimenti durante l’intervista
Goldsmiths 04:23 | Dadaism 05:08 | Marcel Duchamp 05:11 | Artist Residency 05:36 | The College of Optometrists 05:39 | Pathos Ocularis 06:15 | Museum Curator: Neil Handley 08:25 | Santa Lucia – Saint Lucy 09:41 | Moorfields Eye Hospital 11:01 | Adrian Gwillym 25:28 | Costumier 25:31 | British Optical Association Museum 27:19 | São Paulo 29:51 | Itatiba 29:53 | Barts Pathology Museum 31:01 | Murano (Murano & Venetian Glass) 33:26 | Bohemia 33:28 | The Louvre 35:12 | Van Gogh Museum 35:13 | The British Museum 35:15 | Medusa (Sculpture) 35:44 | Victoria & Albert Museum 35:51 | Medusa (Myth) 36:11 | Minotaurs of the Mind 37:27 | Greek Mythology 38:48 | Fin de siècle 39:29 | Sigmund Freud 39:41 | Gustav Klimt 39:42 | Friedrich Nietzsche 39:44 | Gustav Mahler 39:45 | Medusa’s Head by Freud 40:01 | Femme Fatale 40:16 | Psychology 40:18 | Psychoanalysis 40:19 | Lost-wax casting 42:07 | Kiln 43:36 | Lead Crystal Glass 46:46 | Glass Hearts/Palpitations 47:02 | Colin Reid 47:18 | National Trust 48:16 | Sutton House 48:17 | Savill Garden in Windsor Park 48:23 | Punhados de Possibilidades 51:04 | Museu Padre Lima, Itatiba 51:27 | Flagellation & Cilice 52:11 | The Pudica Pose 52:19 | Praxiteles 52:25 | Venus 52:28 | Aphrodite of Knidos 52:30 | Aphrodite 52:37 | Demeter 52:39 | Venus of Milo 53:11 | Tacita Dean 54:19 | Veins of Vanity 56:40 | Vanitas 56:57 | Corset 57:40 | Leighton House Museum 01:01:23 | Tonia Merz 01:01:48 | Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) 01:03:24 | Baroque 01:08:19 | Catholic Liturgy 01:09:24 | Danila Tarcinale 01:11:11 | Rosary 01:11:25
Crediti immagine
Portrait by Marcio Del Nero, hair & make up by Gil Anderson. 2019 | Modelling for Sportswear magazine in Brazil aged 19 | Wearing a corset by Tonia Merz, photograph by Marcio del Nero. 2017 | Photoshoot by Marcio del Nero, hair & make up by Gil Anderson. 2017 | Photograph by Ana Isabel. 2017
Despair
Despair, plaster, life size body cast 59 x 58 x 61cm, 2004-16. Part of the Minotaurs of the Mind collection. Shown in situ at Brompton Cemetery Chapel, 2016.
Self-Portrait as Santa Lucia
Self-Portrait as Santa Lucia mixed media, d: variable, 2019. Exhibited as part of ‘Pathos Ocularis – The Beautiful and the Curious‘, September 2019 – May 2020 (exhibition extended due to Covid-19. Check website for details.
Palpitations
Palpitations is a series of meticulously made glass Hearts displayed on vintage saucers.The series was commissioned by the Kabinett Gallery in Boston for the ‘Killers and Thrillers’ exhibition.
Eyeconography
Eyeconography of Pathos and Pathology. Glass and metal, d: 32cm 2019. Part of Pathos Ocularis, exhibited at The British Optical Association Museum, London.
Medusa
Medusa, lead crystal glass, 2012. 156 x 35 x 31cm. Part of the Minotaurs of the Mind collection. Shown in situ at Brompton Cemetery Chapel, 2016 & National Trust Sutton House, 2012.
Pudica Without Pose
Pudica Without Pose, mixed media 2010. Exhibited as part of Punhados de Possibilidades at the Museu Padre Lima, Itatiba, Brazil, 2011.
Decadence
Exuberance 24c gold & glass on silk velvet, 30cm x 30cm. 2012 | Luxury I 24c gold & glass on silk velvet, 30cm x 30cm. 2010 | Nobility 24c gold & glass on silk velvet, 30cm x 30cm. 2010 | In situ at L’Escargot Members Club, London.
Flagellation (Italian Rosary) and Cilice
Flagellation (Italian Rosary) and Flagellation (French Rosary) Leather, wood, brass, and crystals, 2008 | Cilice Brass and enamel, 2011
Veins of Vanity
Veins of Vanity II life size body cast in optical glass, 40.5 x 30.5 x 20 cm. 2011 | In situ at Brompton Cemetery Chapel, 2016 | Veins of Vanity I life size body cast in optical glass, 40.5 x 30.5 x 20 cm. 2006. In situ in Shoreditch Town Hall, 2010
Stigmata Eyes
Stigmata Eyes glass & plaster, 15 x 12 cm. d: variable. Part of Pathos Ocularis, exhibited at The British Optical Association Museum, London.
Produzione di Carla Tofano e Toby Deveson | Sottotitoli da Valentina Sarno | Arte sul set: Fotografia di Toby Deveson e disegno di Carla di Alexandra Veres | Musica scritto ed eseguito da: Maya Petrovna | Telecamere e Audio gentilmente fornite da Jim Shannon & Murray Stewart
Nacida en Campinas, Brazil, Iluá vive y crea su obra en Londres, en donde vive desde más de la mitad de su vida. Razón por la que es difícil decidir si su caso es el de una creadora brasileña viviendo en el Reino Unido, o si el suyo es el caso de una artista británica nacida en Brazil por accidente.
Iluá es una artista conceptual cuya obra es predominante figurativa, y cuyas visiones estética presentan una fuerte conexión con la anatomía de las formas, y el cuerpo humano como expresión de la existencia hecha materia.
Ella examina la condición humana con lupa, y quizás por ello su trabajo artístico siempre relata complejas concatenaciones semióticas. Tejidos que en el fondo siempre nos remiten a la comprensión y exploración de la fe y los simbolismos presentes en el cristianismo, y en la universalidad de los arquetipos mitológicos.
Muchas de las obras de Iluá son tridimensionales, y en esta entrevista explica no solo su amor por trabajar con vidrio, sino también el placer que experimenta al resolver los problemas técnicos que se presentan en el viaje que empieza en el nacimiento de un concepto, y termina con la materialización de la obra. Este encuentro de largo aliento fue tan revelador como seductor. Su tren de ideas no sabe de atajos, y después de escucharla reflexionar con tanta asertividad, gracia y sabiduría acerca de su arte y su vida, agradecerás que no haya escatimado en detalles.
Descubre sus primeras memorias artísticas, el modo en el que su dandismo neo-gótico se entreteje con su vida en Londres, la comunión que existe entre su intelectualidad voluptuosamente barroca, y la resolución plástica de una obra de pulcritud casi minimalista.
Descubre también cómo los aspectos destructivos de la vanidad han inspirado una de sus esculturas de vidrio favoritas, como el temperamento barroco del Brazil colonial se expresa a través de sus pasiones estilísticas y como su más reciente exhibición en en el Colegio de Optometristas de Londres le permitió revisitar el martirio de Santa Lucía desde una singular perspectiva autobiográfica.
Si como nosotros sabes que no existe nada más fascinante que la indómita ambición de una mujer culta, intelectualmente inconforme e irreverentemente sofisticada, esta conversación será sin duda, elixir para tus sentidos.
¡Y ahora, disfruten la entrevista!
Escucha el Podcast
Esta entrevista se grabó el 13 de diciembre de 2019 y se publicó el 15 de abril de 2020
Enlaces relacionados
Website | Instagram | Twitter | Facebook
Menciones durante la entrevista
Goldsmiths 04:23 | Dadaism 05:08 | Marcel Duchamp 05:11 | Artist Residency 05:36 | The College of Optometrists 05:39 | Pathos Ocularis 06:15 | Museum Curator: Neil Handley 08:25 | Santa Lucia – Saint Lucy 09:41 | Moorfields Eye Hospital 11:01 | Adrian Gwillym 25:28 | Costumier 25:31 | British Optical Association Museum 27:19 | São Paulo 29:51 | Itatiba 29:53 | Barts Pathology Museum 31:01 | Murano (Murano & Venetian Glass) 33:26 | Bohemia 33:28 | The Louvre 35:12 | Van Gogh Museum 35:13 | The British Museum 35:15 | Medusa (Sculpture) 35:44 | Victoria & Albert Museum 35:51 | Medusa (Myth) 36:11 | Minotaurs of the Mind 37:27 | Greek Mythology 38:48 | Fin de siècle 39:29 | Sigmund Freud 39:41 | Gustav Klimt 39:42 | Friedrich Nietzsche 39:44 | Gustav Mahler 39:45 | Medusa’s Head by Freud 40:01 | Femme Fatale 40:16 | Psychology 40:18 | Psychoanalysis 40:19 | Lost-wax casting 42:07 | Kiln 43:36 | Lead Crystal Glass 46:46 | Glass Hearts/Palpitations 47:02 | Colin Reid 47:18 | National Trust 48:16 | Sutton House 48:17 | Savill Garden in Windsor Park 48:23 | Punhados de Possibilidades 51:04 | Museu Padre Lima, Itatiba 51:27 | Flagellation & Cilice 52:11 | The Pudica Pose 52:19 | Praxiteles 52:25 | Venus 52:28 | Aphrodite of Knidos 52:30 | Aphrodite 52:37 | Demeter 52:39 | Venus of Milo 53:11 | Tacita Dean 54:19 | Veins of Vanity 56:40 | Vanitas 56:57 | Corset 57:40 | Leighton House Museum 01:01:23 | Tonia Merz 01:01:48 | Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) 01:03:24 | Baroque 01:08:19 | Catholic Liturgy 01:09:24 | Danila Tarcinale 01:11:11 | Rosary 01:11:25
Créditos de las imágenes
Portrait by Marcio Del Nero, hair & make up by Gil Anderson. 2019 | Modelling for Sportswear magazine in Brazil aged 19 | Wearing a corset by Tonia Merz, photograph by Marcio del Nero. 2017 | Photoshoot by Marcio del Nero, hair & make up by Gil Anderson. 2017 | Photograph by Ana Isabel. 2017
Despair
Despair, plaster, life size body cast 59 x 58 x 61cm, 2004-16. Part of the Minotaurs of the Mind collection. Shown in situ at Brompton Cemetery Chapel, 2016.
Self-Portrait as Santa Lucia
Self-Portrait as Santa Lucia mixed media, d: variable, 2019. Exhibited as part of ‘Pathos Ocularis – The Beautiful and the Curious‘, September 2019 – May 2020 (exhibition extended due to Covid-19. Check website for details.
Palpitations
Palpitations is a series of meticulously made glass Hearts displayed on vintage saucers.The series was commissioned by the Kabinett Gallery in Boston for the ‘Killers and Thrillers’ exhibition.
Eyeconography
Eyeconography of Pathos and Pathology. Glass and metal, d: 32cm 2019. Part of Pathos Ocularis, exhibited at The British Optical Association Museum, London.
Medusa
Medusa, lead crystal glass, 2012. 156 x 35 x 31cm. Part of the Minotaurs of the Mind collection. Shown in situ at Brompton Cemetery Chapel, 2016 & National Trust Sutton House, 2012.
Pudica Without Pose
Pudica Without Pose, mixed media 2010. Exhibited as part of Punhados de Possibilidades at the Museu Padre Lima, Itatiba, Brazil, 2011.
Decadence
Exuberance 24c gold & glass on silk velvet, 30cm x 30cm. 2012 | Luxury I 24c gold & glass on silk velvet, 30cm x 30cm. 2010 | Nobility 24c gold & glass on silk velvet, 30cm x 30cm. 2010 | In situ at L’Escargot Members Club, London.
Flagellation (Italian Rosary) and Cilice
Flagellation (Italian Rosary) and Flagellation (French Rosary) Leather, wood, brass, and crystals, 2008 | Cilice Brass and enamel, 2011
Veins of Vanity
Veins of Vanity II life size body cast in optical glass, 40.5 x 30.5 x 20 cm. 2011 | In situ at Brompton Cemetery Chapel, 2016 | Veins of Vanity I life size body cast in optical glass, 40.5 x 30.5 x 20 cm. 2006. In situ in Shoreditch Town Hall, 2010
Stigmata Eyes
Stigmata Eyes glass & plaster, 15 x 12 cm. d: variable. Part of Pathos Ocularis, exhibited at The British Optical Association Museum, London.
Producción por Carla Tofano & Toby Deveson | Subtítolos por Valentina Sarno | Arte en el set: Fotografía por Toby Deveson y dibujo de Carla por Alexandra Veres | Música por: Maya Petrovna | Cámaras y Sonido cortesía de Jim Shannon & Murray Stewart
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