Phila Primus was born on November 6, 1991 in Düsseldorf.

Her practice draws on intense experience and the intuition of the corporeal consciousness. The body and consciousness – being conscious of the body – are the starting points for her ongoing investigation into the unconscious mind, both personal and social. Through her work, the artist communicates the emotions of an aroused consciousness, which she interweaves with biological, temporal, physical, social, linguistic and symbolic systems. Drawn into the material and symbolic space of her work, we inadvertently acquire a sharper view of our own physical existence, taking place within an interconnected network of all manner of essential elements. We often recognize ourselves in her work as we really are - mortal, aging, powerless, two-faced, isolated…

Numerous threads connect the artist to the tradition of surrealism – contemplation, imagination and reflection, movement through the terrain of the unconscious mind, a lucent depiction of the absurdity of realism. Her art bears a unique signature, however. She employs collage, extending the technique to large formats (up to and beyond life-size). Dividing the visual field of each work with her own characteristic and singular segmentation, she is able to combine highly diverse scales and perspectives. This allows various levels of existence to emerge in her work, with all their intersections, interstices and interrelations. Becoming increasingly layered, her work is inexorably expanding towards the third dimension, developing into sculpture, as shown by her most recent works.

Although on a stylistic level, her art might at a cursory glance be compared to that of (the best) Czech modernists or surrealists, upon closer inspection it becomes evident that her work with images and ideas is original and unique, led by an earnest effort to express the contents of her own creative vision. 

Michal Tošner, anthropologist and art theorist

Solo exhibitions:
2014 - 76% ticho . ArtinBox, Praha
2014 - Zevnitř ven. Galerie Hřívnáč, Opava
2015 - Ani ryba Ani pták. Galerie Emila Juliše, Louny
2016 - Lůnění. Galerie Caesar, Olomouc
2017 - Tělo a (S)mysl, Vrchlického divadlo, Louny 

Collective exhibitions:
2010- Vrai ou Faux rehearsal. Rencontres d’Arles de la Photographie, Arles, FR
2012- Snění. ArtinBox, Praha
2014- Peace Please! ArtinBox, Praha