Biography

Beauty is something we all need, one way or another. For Ilse Oelbers personally, the beauty of art takes her away from daily life. She cannot imagine living without it. People are her most important inspiration. “We all do have our imperfections which makes every person perfect”. In her work she strives to portray both strength and energy of people, but also their vulnerability. The beauty in people is hope, and gives Ilse Oelbers the best inspiration to develop her work.

Ilse Oelbers was educated in Lowestoft (England) in traditional wooden boatbuilding.  For a number of years she worked as a sailor and ships carpenter on various Tall Ships. In 2003 Oelbers came back to the Netherlands and started making wooden sculptures and other ship’s decorations. The urgent need  for making her own work resulted in 2010 in a life size clay sculpture which was bronze cast. A number of bronze sculptures and portraits followed in a small edition. Her work is developing continuously .