Bori Benko - An Artist’s Love of Nature and Passion for Printmaking 15-28 February 2013

(TRAVPR.COM) INDONESIA - February 5th, 2013 - Alila Villas Soori introduces its forthcoming Artist in Residence, Bori Benko, who will be presenting an exhibition on February 15-28, 2013

The Bucharest born, Bali based artist moved at age 15 to Budapest in 1977 to study graphic art, eventually earning her master’s degree in painting from the Budapest Academy of Fine Arts in 2003.

Bori has held exhibitions in Hungary, Italy, Spain, Romania, Turkey and Brazil, travelling widely in these countries, accumulating experiences, inspirations and languages on route. In 2005, she left Europe for Indonesia to pursue a lifetime interest in textiles, patterns and organic colours. Here she began her exploration and research on natural dying and hand-weaving techniques, working alongside and learning from traditional master artisans from the islands of Java, Sumba and Bali.

Having developed her own natural dye paints and pastes, and combining plant extracts and natural gums for painting and printing on fabrics, Bori continues to pursue her long process of research, study and experimentation in various pieces, parts of which we will largely be able to witness at her upcoming exhibition at Soori.

Inspired by the environment where the resort is located, Bori will replicate the beauty of West Bali’s environs into her creations. The exhibition, “Lineage – to hang and to wear,” is a series of shawls, hand-woven and dyed with natural plant extracts and a series of paintings and prints on cotton fabrics with natural dye paints.

The colours of the dyes and paints are extracted through laborious processes, by boiling, smashing, blending or fermenting leaves, barks, roots, fruits and stems of plants. The blues are of the leaves of the indigo shrub, the reds from the barks of the mahogany and tingi trees, the yellows of the fruits of the jalawe tree, all plants indigenous to Indonesia. With natural minerals, she modifies and sets the colours. Her paintings are not enclosed in frames, hanging freely to dance in the breeze.

Her artwork reflects unique attributes and the passion of the artist; her love for nature, its colours and the experimentation it inspires; a passion for printmaking tracing back to her art collage and academic years; a lifetime interest in textiles; her conceptual and aesthetic strengths.

The Artist in Residence program at our luxury villas in Bali provides opportunities for creative individuals with various talents to explore his or her practice within another community, meeting new people, using new materials, experiencing life in a new location. Art residences emphasize the importance of meaningful and multi-layered cultural exchange.

For more information call +62 361 894 6388 or email : soori@alilahotels.com

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