Illa Hammerbacher-Klaukien (born in Königsberg/East Prussia in 1938, lives in Stuttgart) was raised in a religious environment. Her lyric, dynamic, dramatic paintings, which seem to be positioned somewhere between Marc Chagall and Elvira Bach, all appear to proclaim a “joyous message”, if not the “joyous message”. Predominantly female figures whisk us away as spiritual beings into sensual realms.
The expressive paintings fluctuate between dense, dark, melancholic colors and a floating transparency of delicate hues. Although the events depicted in the images (annunciations, Pietà presentations) often have clear references to the Bible or to the mystic, poet, and preacher Hildegard von Bingen, the portrayals invariably maintain their aura of mystery, their poetry, their additional charm.
The artist herself once described her pictures as “painted wishes, dreams, refuge” and stated on record that she “forces the magical, the unexplainable, the wondrous, along with its horrors, afflictions, and the inescapable tragedy of life” into her artwork. It’s hardly surprising that she also writes poetry, not just paints.