"I view the sources used for the works as anthropological evidence from a particular society at a particular time. The drawings are personal records, documents of objects that provide both fictional and historical information."
In 2003, Ilse Pahl refurbished the Spark! Gallery in Johannesburg. In the exhibition Pahl explored the archival function of mass- produced decorative domestic objects that form part of a local visual culture. The cheap ceramic ornaments and enamel bowls had all been sourced from the artist's immediate private and public environment - Johannesburg. The artist explored the private and public meanings attached to these objects.
Ilse Pahl stayed in the Thami Mnyele Foundation Studio in June 2000. She recently contributed to the exhibition Visible Visions at FAXX in Tilburg.