Originally from Germany, Ilka took drawing lessons as a teenager and spent 20 years studying, researching, and teaching biology. More recently, she studied environmental policy and law before she turned her focus to artistic practice.
Today, the themes she explores in her art are informed by her life experience, and questions about the environment, reality, governance, and identity are prevalent in her work. Ilka enjoys the freedom she has as an artist to work across boundaries, and to develop her own visual language to explore complex issues. Working in both two- and three-dimensional media, her paper sculptures create visual metaphors about concepts of reality and fragility of intent. Her expansive ink panels are bold yet detailed, often blurring the boundary between drawing and painting.
Ilka is a member of the International Association of Hand Papermakers and Paper Artists, and an Associate member of the Federation of Canadian Artists. She has shown her work in Canada, the US, Germany, and Dubai, and is working to extend her reach internationally.
website: https://ilkabauer.com
instagram: @bogsnbone
