About
Ilka Benez Brandão Lemos was born in Araçatuba, São Paulo, in 1957. She attended the Penápolis University of Arts, from 1974 to 1975 and took open courses with Antonio Hélio Cabral, Rodrigo Naves, Agnaldo Farias, Sérgio Fingermann and Hugo Houayek. Ilka has been living in São Paulo since 1997, working with the possibility of an imaginary detached from social ties and exploring the artist’s freedom of action.
The root of her investigations lies in the mythology of the figure of Lilith as the first woman in Western history who did not conform; the one who dared to proclaim the first “no”. With the proximity of the mystical narrative, she has always been in pursuit of a metaphysics and spirituality, questioning the written narratives, in search of the force of freedom present since the remote times.
Ilka produces according to her desires and researches the power of the female body, present in several mystics, elaborating it as the root of her investigations. Her production is not restricted to a single language; thus never hesitating to experiment with different media, such as painting, embroidery, photography, sculpture and video. Ilka Lemos has participated in collective and individual exhibitions, both in Brazil and abroad.