Home | Ilua Hauck da Silva

The crux of my practice is to visually investigate the human condition and its conundrums: sculpted body parts and glass internal organs function as powerful signifiers for different psychological, emotional, and physical afflictions.

I explore the vastly complex notion of beauty – both aesthetically and conceptually – by combining a wealth of materials and techniques. A strong sense of the relationship between what can potentially be described as beautiful and the brutality of existence is thus deeply infused in my work.

Dadaesque interventions on Old Masters and ‘ready-mades’ articulate thoughts on social values, tensions, and injustice, and also consider the construction of history and traditions. Human anatomy, Greek mythology, Christian narratives and iconography, medicine, and Classical ideals and sculpture continue to inform my meticulous visual and theoretical vocabularies.

Cohesion between form and idea is consciously pursued or challenged, and charges my work with affecting connotations: as multiple layers of meaning unfold, the contingency of visual dialogues between crafted matter, abstract concepts, and ontological preoccupations crystallise. ©

News

May 2020: I am delighted to share the news that I have been awarded an Arts Council England Emergency Response Grant. I kindly thank the ACE for their support during the Covid-19 crisis.

March 2020: In line with the latest advice from Public Health England, the British Optical Association Museum is now closed to visitors until further notice. This means that my exhibition 'Pathos Ocularis - The Beautiful and The Curious' has been suspended. I kindly thank those who visited the show and all who continue to support my work, especially during these uncertain times.