Ulla Engeberg Killias (1945–1995) was a Swedish-born
painter
Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...
who lived in
Switzerland
Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...
for most of her adult life.
Life and work
Killias was born in Stockholm, Sweden, where she also earned her baccalaureate in painting and drawing. She first moved to Switzerland in 1965, when she began her studies at the University of Zurich. She stayed there until 1975, studying art history and German studies, and completing an internship in the field of child psychology.
She married Heinrich Sattler, adopted two children, and moved to St. Gallen, where she assumed the position of senior teacher at a children's therapeutic center. She also continued to study drawing and painting.
After her divorce from Heinrich Sattler in 1977, she married Heinz Killias and lived with him at his home in Bilten. Here she worked as a freelance artist on the restoration of historic buildings.
In 1985, she was diagnosed with
leukemia
Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia; pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and produce high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or '' ...
. In 1986, she was invited to participate in a touring exhibition in Denmark called "4 Swiss artists." In 1988, she designed the set for the production of the opera ''Ondine'' by ETA Hoffmann in Mitlödi. That same year she opened a painting studio for children, young people, and adults in Netstal. In 1990 she earned her diploma as a painting teacher from the Institute for Humanistic Art Therapy in Zurich. She opened a second art studio, for students and teachers, in
Glarus
Glarus (; ; ; ; ) is the capital of the canton of Glarus in Switzerland. Since 1 January 2011, the municipality of Glarus incorporates the former municipalities of Ennenda, Netstal and Riedern.El Hierro and Castagneto Carducci.
She is buried in Glarus's city cemetery.