10 Questions with Kamila Hyo Hlobil

Kamila Hyo was born in 1978 in Brno, Czech Republic, and lives and works in Switzerland. Her artistic journey began in early childhood, inspired by her mother, a skilled painter who introduced her to the world of art.

After a long creative pause, Kamila rediscovered her passion for painting in 2021. Since then, she has cultivated a deeply personal and distinctive style shaped by a commitment to colour, form, and emotional nuance. As a self-taught artist, she is fully dedicated to refining her technique and broadening her expressive range.

Her work has been featured in several international exhibitions. In collaboration with ZeeArts Gallery in Dubai, she created a painting addressing the UN Sustainable Development Goal “Zero Hunger,” exhibited at Atelier Mondial in Basel and in the Blue Zone of COP28 at Expo City Dubai.

In October 2024, she participated in the Carrousel du Louvre Art Exhibition in Paris, presenting her work to a global audience. She is one of 14 selected artists featured in a prestigious international art book that merges visual art with personal storytelling.

Kamila’s oil paintings reveal an introspective and emotionally resonant visual language. Her works often uncover subtle inner landscapes, inviting the viewer into a quiet and reflective dialogue. A hallmark of her technique is the use of glazing and transparency, which allows for delicate colour transitions and layered emotional depth. This approach gives her pieces a distinctive lightness and depth, opening space for personal interpretation and sensitive resonance.

Kamila Hyo sees painting as a silent yet profound form of emotional communication, a poetic reflection of the inner world and a gentle invitation to empathy and contemplation.

kamilahyo.ch | @kamilahyo

ARTIST STATEMENT

Kamila Hyo’s artistic practice is rooted in oil painting and explores the interplay of space, light, and colour. Her creative process is not a linear act of execution, but a slow unfolding, a shaping and transformation of the subject over time. Each motif undergoes a silent metamorphosis while remaining anchored in its essential nature, as if suspended in a timeless moment.

Visible forms arise from the invisible. They are grounded in a depth that resists full comprehension. Kamila turns her focus toward these hidden dimensions, seeking to reveal the beauty of creation from alternative, often overlooked perspectives, beyond the surface, beyond time.

Her work captures fleeting emotional states that feel both eternal and immediate, a subtle balance of precision and atmosphere, between structure and sensitivity. The resulting paintings invite the viewer to pause and reflect in silence, to sense what cannot be said.

For Kamila, art is a bridge between the tangible and the immaterial, a means of translating unseen truths into visible, intimate expressions. Each work becomes a poetic mirror of universal, timeless realities, rendered with both technical nuance and emotional resonance.

INTERVIEW

Let’s start with your background. You first began painting as a child, inspired by your mother. How did those early experiences shape your relationship with art?

Early experiences taught me not only to see colours and shapes, but to feel them. As a child, I collected them like little treasures and linked them to my own experiences. They became memories resting within me. Years later, when I encountered the same shades or lines again, it felt as if I were touching something long forgotten. This connection between inner memory and outer image has made my relationship with art something deeply intimate and lifelong.

After a long creative pause, what inspired you to return to painting in 2021?

Visiting a fellow artist’s studio was the turning point. The intensity and expressiveness of her work awakened in me a deep desire to create again. Once I started painting, I found it almost impossible to stop. I would often lose all sense of time. Soon, this grew into a passionate and lasting return to painting.

As a self-taught artist, how have you developed and refined your technique over time?

As a self-taught artist, I have developed and refined my technique over time through close observation, experimentation, and ongoing self-reflection. A significant part of my learning process has been studying the works of the old masters, analysing their use of colour, the interplay of light and shadow, and the depth they achieved in their paintings. I have integrated these insights into my own work, not by copying, but by using them as inspiration to shape my personal visual language. At the same time, my imagination plays a central role: many of my works are born from inner images and emotions, which I translate into multiple layers and glazes to create transparency and a sense of timeless depth. Over the years, this has led to the emergence of a style that is rooted in classical painting traditions while allowing space for personal interpretation and expression.

Oil painting is central to your practice. What draws you to this medium, and how does it suit your artistic goals?

For me, oil is far more than just a medium. It is a centuries-old tradition that carries within it a deep body of knowledge passed down through generations. Its unparalleled colour reflection and intensity, the luminous radiance of light, and the ability to model a subject with subtle nuance make oil painting unique to me. I love working layer by layer, building a dimensionality that, in my view, can only be achieved with oil. Each glaze adds new depth; each play of light introduces an additional layer of meaning. Oil allows me to weave time into the painting; it demands patience and devotion, and in return, it offers a timeless presence that invites the viewer to linger. For me, it is the medium that expresses my artistic language in its purest and most powerful form.

Can you walk us through your glazing and transparency technique? How does it create the layered depth in your work?

My glazing and transparency technique is based on building a painting layer by layer, allowing light and colour to resonate with one another. I usually begin with a clear composition and a subtle underpainting that already sets the structure and atmosphere. From there, I apply multiple thin, translucent layers of oil paint, allowing each to dry before adding the next.
This approach creates a particular kind of depth. Light passes through the transparent layers, reflects off the underlying tones, and gives the subject an almost ethereal presence. In my most recent works, this has taken the form of transparent figures that carry emotional depth, their expression shifting depending on the viewer’s perspective or mood. Alongside these, I have created three portraits inspired by the Renaissance, not only in terms of technique, but also in the quiet dignity and timeless presence that I strive to enhance through my glazing.
For me, this process is a dialogue between the visible and the invisible, between what is clearly seen and what can only be sensed.

Your paintings often feel introspective and meditative. How do you translate emotional states into visual form?

For me, painting is a way of listening inward. Before I begin, I spend time in observation and stillness, allowing a certainemotional atmosphere to emerge, sometimes it’s rooted in memory, other times in a fleeting sensation or a subtle shift in light. These inner states are rarely direct or literal; instead, they are distilled into colours, shapes, and layers that evoke rather than describe.
I work slowly, often in multiple translucent layers, so that the image grows organically, almost like a conversation between my inner world and the canvas. This pace allows the work to breathe and to carry a meditative quality, the same quiet energy I experience while painting can then be felt by the viewer.
Ultimately, my goal is not to portray emotion in an obvious way, but to create a space where the viewer’s own inner states can surface. In this way, the paintings become mirrors - not of me alone, but of anyone who stands before them.

What does the idea of art as a bridge between the tangible and immaterial mean to you personally?

Every visible thing carries within it a depth that remains hidden from our eyes and can only be perceived emotionally or immaterially. The immaterial is an essential part of our lives; often, it is precisely the invisible that forms the true essence of our being. It is something we do not just see, but feel and sense. It nourishes our inner self, gives meaning to our existence, and connects us to a realm beyond the purely tangible.

You’ve exhibited internationally, from Dubai to Paris. How has your work been received by audiences in different cultural contexts?

I find it very interesting how art is perceived differently across various cultures. These diverse perspectives not only broaden my own horizon in terms of perception but also influence how I work on my pieces.
My works have been received quite differently in various cultural contexts, which I see as an enriching experience. At international exhibitions such as in Dubai and Paris, the audiences are often very open and curious, allowing me to establish a direct emotional connection with my works across cultural boundaries.
I am especially moved by how people from very different backgrounds respond to the depth and transparency of my paintings. The themes of inner worlds and emotional states seem universal and often resonate beyond language and cultural differences.
These diverse responses encourage me to continue working authentically and to continually explore my artistic language anew. In this way, my paintings also have the opportunity to become more diverse.

What projects or themes are you most excited to explore in the coming year?

In the coming year, I look forward to further deepening the emotional depth and transparency in my work. I plan to continue developing my layering techniques to portray the interplay of light and shadow more subtly, thereby expressing inner states with greater nuance.
While continuing to explore my existing themes, I am also open to new inspirations and collaborations that broaden my perspective and help me grow as an artist. Exhibitions remain important to me, but my primary focus is on the creative process and the evolution of my artistic language.

And lastly, what do you hope the future holds for you and your work? Where do you see yourself next?

With time, I hope to continue refining and perfecting my work so that it resonates more deeply with audiences. My goal is to create pieces that invite viewers into a meaningful and emotional experience, bridging the visible and invisible aspects of human existence.
Looking ahead, I see myself continuing to grow both technically and conceptually, exploring new dimensions of expression while staying true to my artistic vision. I aim to share my evolving work with a wider audience and to engage in opportunities that challenge and inspire me as an artist.

Artist’s Talk

Al-Tiba9 Interviews is a promotional platform for artists to articulate their vision and engage them with our diverse readership through a published art dialogue. The artists are interviewed by Mohamed Benhadj, the founder & curator of Al-Tiba9, to highlight their artistic careers and introduce them to the international contemporary art scene across our vast network of museums, galleries, art professionals, art dealers, collectors, and art lovers across the globe.

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