Graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts in Cracow, Poland, Biernot presently lives and works in Toronto. Ilona's Biernot's works are found in private collections in Europe and North America. During her numerous visits to Italy, Ilona became facinated with the Old Masters who greatly influenced her approach to art. In Italy she began to focus on portrait painting.Her portraits reveal the essence of her sitters shedding thier guarded exteriors, be they celebrities, or simply art lovers.Ilona Biernot's artistic quest continues in a series of paintings which blurs the boundary between the past and the present.The works deal with themes taken from life and myth; topics which have engrossed artists throughout the ages. Through the use of modern symbols and motifs, she poses questions for which every individual has a personal answer.
Ilona breathes life into two dimensional portraiture finding power and sensuality in the discarded and the delicate.
