Dilka Bear
“Full Moon Children”
September 17th – October 23rd, 2016
Opening Reception, Saturday, September 17th, 2016
*Dilka Beae will be present*
Northport, NY Haven Gallery is pleased to present “Full Moon Children”, a solo show of new work by Italy based artist Dilka Bear. “Full Moon Children” is Dilka Bear’s first solo show in the states and features 13 paintings of Dilka’s quintessential young figures interacting harmoniously with animals and creatures in the landscape. Dilka Bear is known for painting emotive children oftentimes found in rural settings amongst wildlife of a surrealistic nature. Each painting is a piece of a greater story and imbue the dream like qualities of a child’s imagination. The inhabitants of her paintings can always be found in the natural world sharing their personal tales. In this particular series, a focus on the changing environment can be noted through the the artist’s palette, landscape and narrative.
A symbiotic balance of life is demonstrated by the natural interactions present between animals and humans. Yet Dilka’s world is not a pristine one. A sense of melancholia touches each child’s face and echoes of death present darker themes of reality. Environmental changes are depicted and the correlation between humans and nature clearly defined. A fish lays limp in a young girl’s lap as she kneels at the sea shore painted mostly with yellow, murky tones. A bumble bee rests submissively in the arms of another girl in an icy landscape. In each of these girl’s gazes, beyond their innocence, is a sense of all knowingness present that makes us question our current relationship with our own environment.
Dilka Bear has been drawing and imagining her own stories since childhood. With their confrontational gaze, many of Dilka’s children beckon you to join them in their world, a world upon first glance, that is foreign, yet familiar, as a sense of nostalgia is rekindled in our hearts, returning us to a place of thought and substance we commonly experienced as children. These dreamy tales appear sentimental and sanguine yet poignantly reflect the world as it is in its current day.
About Dilka Bear
Dilka Bear studied Architecture at the Almaty University of Arts, in Kazakhstan. After working as an illustrator and a graphic designer for companies such as Cosmopolitan Kazakhstan, Grey Central Asia, Saatchi & Saatchi Kazakhstan, she devoted herself to painting. In 2005, she moved to Trieste, where she currently lives. Influenced by the great masters of the past, such as Bruegel and Bosch, the Italian Renaissance, but also by contemporary artists such as Marion Peck and Ray Caesar, and by Grimms’ Fairy Tales, Dilka Bear paints beautiful illustrations of young children and their frank expressions that mirrors the worlds around them.
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An opening reception will be held for the artist on Saturday, September 17th, 2016 from 6 – 8pm at Haven Gallery. Dilka Bear will be present.
Haven Gallery is located at 155 Main St., The Carriage House Square, Suite 4, in Northport, NY 11768
For additional information and images, please contact Erica Berkowitz at info@havenartgallery.com
