My practice is developing from my interest in reflection on life from an autobiographical perspective. Art is a mirror of our journey through our daily lives and experiences. As a child immigrant from the Netherlands to New Zealand and now as a mature mother of 4, I use my autobiography to discuss cultural identity, appropriation and socio-political narratives. For this territory I like to use powerful emotionally charged figurative imagery and often pose a question in attempt to draw my audience into my avenues of inquiry.
I am in a transformation phase of my own personal journey and am therefore deeply engaged in my own narcissistic conclusions of “what is life really all about?”.
Odd Nerdrum speaks to this idea of “the big question” ….and with this concept he often references anecdote or narrative.[1] I suppose a metonymic association of this idea would be- “What is the meaning of life?”
In my most recent works, I have been exploring the gradual passage of one life-phase to the next, the discontinuities of life, continuity vs discontinuity, transition, the idea of reduction, even life vs death by referencing youthful nostalgic emotional moments in-between past and future.
Often using collected images as a starting point for my works, I aim to prompt the viewers’ memories and a reconstruction of past experiences through the final figurative paintings.
I am currently exploring the traditions of Master painters such as Rembrandt and referencing contemporary painters such as Michael Borremans and Odd Nerdrum.
With this exploration of process my aim is to give my work a sense of real life, vitality and perspective within a painterly depiction. Ultimately my ambition is to engage with my audience through a sense of ambient emotion that embraces our connection of thought about life and its meaning.
[1] Odd Nerdrum: The Self-Portrait (2015) (Nerdrum Pictures , 2015), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttIlMs
Figure 1. Michael Borremans, Man Asleep, 2005.
Figure 2. Rembrandt, Self-Portrait, 1659.
Figure 3. Rembrandt, Self-Portrait, 1659.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Odd Nerdrum: The Self-Portrait (2015). Norway: Nerdrum Pictures , 2015. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttIlMsFHxv0.
ILLUSTRATIONS
FIGURES
1. Michael Borremans, Man Asleep, 2005, oil on canvas, 42 x 36cm, in Michael Borremans: as sweet as it gets, by Borremans, Michael, 1963. [artist] (Ostfildern: Hatje Cantz 2014), cat.28
2. Rembrandt, Self-Portrait, 1659, oil on canvas, 84.4cm x 66cm, National Gallery of Arts, Washington, D.C.
3. Rembrandt, Self-Portrait, 1659, oil on canvas, 84.4cm x 66cm, National Gallery of Arts, Washington, D.C.