Klara Leibovitz-Jiraskova, born 1966, graduated from the Applied Arts Academy in Prague. Her father is the renowned graphist Jiri Jirasek. After her marriage with Edward Leibovitz, she moved to Antwerp and taught him the tricks of glass processing. She participates in summer workshops in Sars-Poteries in northern France and Frauenau in Bavaria.
Klara is a graphic artist at heart. Drawing is her second nature. Her first works in glass were strongly influenced by the presence of an impressive artist like Edward Leibovitz. She quickly adapted to her own style in which she often uses the glass to get special effects in her drawing, such as placing different engraved discs apart, creating a complex composition with a three-dimensional appearance.
Her expression is fresh and casual and focuses on the world in her immediate environment. Today’s major subjects are no inspiration for her: no wars or pollution scandals. The viewer can read her compositions as a cartoon, with a surprising presence of the human child and fairytale animals in the midst of moving things: a bike, a wheel, and an airplane. Her poetry is light-hearted but sincere, the effect of which is testimony to an innate good taste. Besides this engraving, related to her etching on paper, Klara is a talented and well known sculptor.