Ileana Barbu, Romanian artist who lives in Boulder, Colorado had an exhibition recently called Lightness of Being. The exhibition featured both watercolors and icons. The watercolors possess an ephemeral quality emphasizing the very fragility of our physical being while affirming an inherent human spirit. Ileana drew on myth and history for her inspiration, including such figures as Joan of Arc and Medusa. The exhibition also included paintings of the Prisma Group, which includes Victoria Kwasinski, Carlene Frances, Vicki McDonald Loppek and Pat Orbin.
Ileana Barbu maintains a studio next to a Greek Orthodox Church in far northeast Boulder. Artists can often be understood by where they create their art. In the case of Ileana, this is particularly true.
Ileana paints on a balcony that overlooks what used to be the congregational hall of the church. Her space is not very large, and it’s crammed with a plethora of paintings, drawings, ceramics and sculptures that testify to her creative range. Ileana doesn’t mind the clutter. She’s just thankful to have a place where she can work away from the chaos of a life trying to survive as an artist.
Like many artists, Ileana relies on teaching to supplement her paintings. She teaches in two schools: the Rocky Mountain College of Art and Design in Denver and Boulder’s Colorado Academy of Art.
Ileana grew up in Romania, and has pleasant memories of a rural childhood. She did not feel the artistic restraints of a communist regime until she entered the university in pursuit of a professional are career. As a free spirit, she chaffed under narrow perceptions of what was viewed as acceptable art. Almost fifteen years ago, she escaped from Romania with her infant daughter, and ultimately emigrated to the United States.
Living under communism, has given her an appreciation of freedom and eventually religion, which was discouraged in her native land.
Ileana was trained originally as a sculptor and ceramist, but today, painting occupies most of her attention. She paints in all media, but oil and watercolor dominate her current paints.
