Judith's
favourite motto is the Latin proverb:
Terminus vitae sed non amoris.
(Life is final, love is eternal.)
She says:
"It is not an easy task for an artist to give an account of herself or her art, because she runs the risk of being judged as an eccentric or even a braggart. That especially goes for one who can be deemed an idealist; one who is somewhat unfit for the world of "action". Our time is very much characterized as being selfish and materialistic, with a set of values dictated by the media and commercialism. A hockey or football star is worth a hundred cultured and educated ordinary individuals. As an artist I feel very lost in this world with my "unfashionable" ideas and "obsolete" mentality, especially my artistic ideals. However, at long last I have learned that this is not at all to my disadvantage. After all, it is us, the "exiles from real life" who gain the most from being exiled. Because we choose our own way to achieve true knowledge through reading, learning, thinking and creating.My favorite author, Aldous Huxley, wrote: "If I had to describe Hell, it would be a place without books." I'd like to complete his "Hell Theory." A place without the music of J.S. Bach, Mozart and Debussy, without paintings, sculptures and beautiful buildings would be Hell. One could also describe this Hell by including totalitarian regimes like fascism and communism. Unfortunately I have had the experience to live in the latter.
Throughout my life I had to face major changes and challenges . In 1968 my husband and I left Hungary and escaped to neighbouring Austria. The Czech Revolution happened that same year, and it was during this panic that we decided to emigrate to Canada. We settled in Calgary where I had the chance to pursue my dream and become an artist. I went to the Alberta College of Art where I graduated with a diploma in the visual arts.
In the following year (1980) I had my first solo exhibition. Pursuing an artistic career while raising two children was a difficult balancing act. A major turning point was moving to Victoria, which is on the beautiful Vancouver Island, surrounded by the mighty Pacific Ocean. This is an enchanting place where winter is only an "idea," or maybe a bad memory. Throughout the year we enjoy blooming flowers, emerald green grass, centuries old giant trees and mysterious rainforests fit for storybooks. Vancouver Island in its isolation is a uniquely fabulous place. It is the world of the native people who have powers beyond the knowledge or grasp of the average person. They are the "shamans." The source of their supernatural powers are beings who take possession of the shaman and speak through him (or her). The spiritual realm is visually confirmed through native indian art: totem poles and elaborate masks. These totems with their strange and exotic design struck an inner chord in my heart. They spoke to me about ancient myths, cosmology and spirituality. Without noticing, I felt the irresistible urge to create something similar, something which expressed my innate reciprocity with them. From this emotional response derived my new artistic style which contained the motifs and characters of ancient folk art. I also painted "Totems", where I succeeded to revive or render the suggestive spiritual powers of West Coast Native art. I think that during the time I worked on my totems, I spiritually became a native artist too. I held three exhibitions and participated in numerous other shows in Victoria and Vancouver.
A number of my paintings found their way into private collections. However, there came a time in my life when I, as an artist absorbed in my art, had to return back to reality and face life's cruelty. Our lovely daughter Monica was stricken with leukemia. After two years of suffering we lost her forever. She was only twenty years old. This tragedy left me and my family devastated. In the following years I longed for mental and spiritual relief. I read every book I could find in hope of receiving an answer to the enigma of Human Life and Death. After years of reading and meditating I truly understood the meaning of the Latin proverb: "Life is final, love is eternal." I found solace and great joy in our younger daughter, Rebecca. The creative urge returned, together with a more intense love for my family. I began to feel everything: love and Nature's beauty, art and music on an expanded level. The best way to release these emotions is to create art again. The world seemed like an ever-changing miracle, which had to be expressed. Here on Vancouver Island where one is surrounded with an abundance of beauty, the state of stillness, both within myself and within Nature, gradually became the new style of my paintings. Nothing is more beautiful and uplifting than the sceneries of snow covered mountains, shiny emerald green lakes, wildflowers of radiant hues and the deep blue sky above them. Yet Nature is still beautiful even when She shows her darker, more sombre face on a stormy day, at night or in a deep forest. Walking in the dense ancient rainforest, listening to its mysterious noises and inhaling the moist and spicy fragrants of sunken tree trunks is an intense experience. One feels exhilarated by the majesty of Nature, by the whole Creation of our miraculous world. The elemental powers overwhelm one's sorrow. Gradually I came to understand the message, the hidden laws of Nature and Life: the laws which awaken in the spectator, the meditating mind the universal truth of all relating harmony and beauty. This is the sense of unity of everything concerning us and the whole Universe. This understanding is conveyed in my latest works, where I am projecting forms and ideas which belong to a different reality.