Silvia Belis
* 1983
Artist, Illustrator, stagedesigner and curator
Since 2014, the author has dedicated herself to her own woodworking and drawing. She is also active as an art curator and art teacher.
Wooden objects are crafted using the techniques of marquetry (creating images by fitting and gluing together veneers of various colours and structures) and incrustation (inserting wooden or stone components into wood). These traditional techniques are conceived in an original manner, not merely as a decorative or ornamental element of artwork. The artist puts her ideas and thoughts into the images in the form of dream landscapes, natural beings or abstract visions. These images, arising from the recesses of the subconscious, have surrounded her since birth, creating a fantastic inner world that is always subtly impinging on everyday reality.
Wood is a natural medium for the visualisation of these inner images. Natural material inspires the author by its structure and radiates energy that encourages imagination and often reveals a path to crafting.
The author also occasionally cooperates as a stage designer with the directors Karel Král (V Dlouhé Theatre, Dejvické Theatre, Na zábradlí Theatre) and Linda Dušková, as well as with the Svět a divadlo magazine as an illustrator.
EDUCATION
1998–2004
Secondary Graphic Art School and College of Graphic Art in Prague – study field Graphic Design and Book Illustration
2006–2007
Institute of Art and Design in Pilsen – study field Book Illustration
2007–2009
Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, Bachelor’s degree study at the Department of Alternative and Puppet Theatre, study field Stage Design, head of studio MgA. Pavel Kalfus
2010–2011
Academy of Performing Arts in Prague, Master’s degree study and graduation at the Department of Alternative and Puppet Theatre, study field Stage Design, head of studio MgA. Tomáš Žižka
EXHIBITIONS
2010
Realization of the site specific project Move house at the Czech Centre in New York on the theme of Czech emigration to America
2011
Mánes Gallery in Prague: Orbis pictus - Play interactive installation "Environmental Perspectives" at the exhibition (in cooperation with Petr Nikl & co.)
Orbis Pictus – Play accompanying programme of „Manhattan Fishing“, Mánes Gallery Prague
2011, 2012, 2013
Histeria Festival – preparation of the visual part of the site specific festival aimed at music and all forms of outdoor theatre in Slovenia
2012
Austria: OÖ Kulturquartier Linz interactive installation at the exhibition Labyrinth of Senses
2016
Ve Věži Gallery in Mělník: Images from under the Bark, solo exhibition
2016 - today
National Museum of Agriculture in Prague: recykLES installation at the interactive exhibition in cooperation with Tomáš Žižka and Václav Kynský on the theme of the forest and stories of trees
2018
Gallery in Emauzy monastery in Prague: WoodScopes, solo exhibition
2019
Jindřich Štreit - Cycles: Jindřich Štreit's photos accompanied with interactive art objects and installations, National Museum of Agriculture in Prague, collective exhibition
2020
The Research Library in Liberec: festival "Jeden Svět" (One world), collective exhibition
Campus Hybernská gallery, Prague: festival of illustration "Lustr", collective exhibition
2023 - In progress
Gallery Sladovna, Písek, Silvia Belis & Martin Patřičný, common exhibition
THEATRE PERFORMANCES, INSTALLATIONS, SITE SPECIFIC
2007
Forest Spirit – site specific installation on the theme of Ch. Morgenstern’s poetry – Skupa’s Pilsen (Jižní předměstí)
Mimotaurus Theatre: Where happiness grows; stage design and puppets for the puppet performance
2010
Pixy – stage design, puppets and costumes for the theatre play combining drama and puppet theatre on the theme of M. Andersson’s comic book, Disk Theatre
Realization of the site specific project Move house at the Czech Centre in New York on the theme of Czech emigration to America
Orbis Pictus – Play accompanying programme of Manhattan Fishing, Mánes Gallery
from 2010
artwork for the children’s puppet theatre Krasohled (acting, stage design, art workshops)
2011
Histeria 2011 Festival – preparation of the visual part of the site specific festival aimed at music and all forms of outdoor theatre in Slovenia
2012
Streetcar Named Desire – creating the scene and costumes, South Bohemian Theatre in České Budějovice; directed by Adam Rut
Problem (Jumping Out of One’s Skin) – comic scenic draft & puppet drama, creating the scene and puppets, text author: Zuza Ferenczová; directed by: Karel Král, V Dlouhé Theatre
Absinth – creating the scene and promotion materials, Disk Theatre; directed by Linda Dušková
Histeria 2012 Festival – preparation of the visual part of the site specific festival aimed at music and all forms of outdoor theatre in Slovenia
2014
Bankruptcy Carousel – stage design for the author’s reading; text author: Csaba Czékely, Christian Lollike; directed by Karel Král, Dejvické Theatre
2015
I’m Leaving Twice – creating the scene and costumes for Eat That Frog, a festival of French theatre in Prague; directed by Linda Dušková
RAPHICS AND ILLUSTRATION
since 2010 – creating illustrations for the Svět a divadlo magazine
since 2015 – comics preparation in cooperation with the psychotherapist Kasia Kordylewska
2020 - Publication of comics book "Wolfe's girl" (Belis, Kordylewska, Žižlavský), Volvox Globator publisher
