Ilse Oelbers has been trained as a wooden boatbuilder in Lowestoft, England. For several years she worked as a ships carpenter en sailed on Tall Ships all over the world. Back home in 2003 she started to work in commission and made wooden figure heads and other ships decorations. Free work was her wish and she made a life size clay model of a woman which was bronze casted. Since then, Oelbers is working on her oeuvre. Her work is exhibited in and outside of The Netherlands and is developing constantly.

To me, being a sculptor  is an opportunity to view things in a different perspective. Integrity is a keyword, just as is intimacy. In present-day society we lack both. Opportunism and fear are more common than showing understanding and interest in each other. Therefore, people in their pure form are  a central topic in my work. The silent movement in my sculptures shows the vulnerability of human kind. This can be a recognition of that what we miss in our daily life.

“I try to let go of everything and concentrate on the one thing: The necessity, the breath of every artist: work. First I start with an armature with which I play around until the posture seems perfect. Than the real work starts:  Modeling, rasping, carving, smearing. Ruthless, unreachable for my loved ones, I take less time for eating and sleep restless. Watching. Finally I scrape my name in the clay. I widen my gaze en see that everything still is as it was”