​Contemporary South African Art

Article credits to http://www.iart.co.za/all-images-archive/eris-silke-icons/

 

Hungarian by birth and Jewish by upbringing, Eris Silke’s character is difficult to overlook when viewing her captivating work. As a self-taught artist, Silke is not bound to or limited by any particular theoretical strain, but draws her inspiration from highly sensitive analyses of the world around her, including those aspects that are borne of the imagination.

Though her images are often shadowy, one is never drawn to question the integrity of her work. Silke describes her artistic motive in general terms: ‘Art has got to communicate real feeling. In dealing with the dark side of experience, art can be wild, but it should not be empty. In other words, you can show death, but you have to be on the side of life.’

Silke attributes her Victorian imagery to a childhood spent in books. Silke’s family fled a war-torn Europe when she was a young girl and settled in Israel. Being an only child and finding herself in a desert landscape which did not appeal to her creative sensibility, Silke found sanctuary for many years in the offerings of the public library. In her mind, Silke remained in Europe – the Europe of 1930s novels. The sentiments of humanism and of fine literature that she grew up on have remained with Silke throughout her life, guiding her in her art to be always on the side of the innocent. ‘The aim of my art is to communicate vulnerability according to the moral tradition of the world. I have little time for those who are not caring creatures – we can grow from, but never conceal, morality.’

For this exhibition Silke has produced a series of works that contain images and personalities that have contributed (both in her personal and imaginative existence and in the wider world) to her belief in maintaining love and sincerity in life and art.