Untitled (gold)

Credit line: Collection of SMU

Delia Prvacki née Iliesiu (b. 1950) was born in Baia Mare, Romania. She grew up in a family with strong affinities for art where her passion for poetry, music and folklore from an early age inspired her to become an artist.

She loves working with clay and ceramics because it is a flexible yet robust material. She started experimenting with clay when she was seventeen and had a first solo exhibition in 1970. From 1970 to 1975 she studied at Institute of Fine Arts in Bucharest where she earned a Master Degree in Applied Arts/Ceramics. In 1975 she moved to ex-Yugoslavia, where she lived and worked for the next 17 years, broadly recognised and appreciated as a professional ceramicist.

In 1992, together with husband, artist Milenko Prvacki and daughter Ana, Delia emigrated to Singapore, becoming a Singapore citizen in 2002.

Delia's body of work since early ‘80s has been focused on establishing a new vocabulary and significance for the sculptural medium generated by available technologies and endless modalities of expression in ceramics, often experimenting with mixed techniques and strongly influenced by her passion for other forms of arts and archaeology as well. Since moving to Southeast Asia, the experience of a radically different natural surroundings—tropical vegetation, light, weather—and cultural environment—particularly the need to respond to the dilemmas posed by modern urban society—has generated and inspired new subject matters. These experiences have also reaffirmed her choices to work predominantly with a range of ceramic material and re-examine its potential.

Delia's murals and sculptures have been displayed in buildings and urban spaces in Singapore, including Dhoby Ghaut Interchange MRT Station.