Artist statement
Concepts
The notion of a parallel universe, of what goes on beneath our pleasing and pleasant appearance is a constant theme in both my oil painting and in my etchings. My etchings are closely related to my late night doodle drawing and portray secret fantasies or fiery desires with a clearly erotic tone, which I also continue in some small oils. I also paint bigger, single figure 'psychological' portraits often referring to classical portraiture by Rubens or Titian. This contemporary and personal response to classical painting is a recurring source of inspiration and subject matter for me.
In painting as in etching I work out similar ideas 'The erotic and hidden aspect both in social mores as in intimate relationships both seen from a female perspective is an issue which appears. The hypocrisy of our social space which gives us a veneer of liberation yet does not cover our awareness of innate savagery.
Influences
Own gender (Female), fantasy, angst, irony, cultural identity (North European) Dutch and German painting, artist book making, portraiture. Historical references to Baroque (17th C), European painting especially Rubens, Titian, Velasquez, portraiture painting plus the moderns like Max Beckman, Marlene Dumas, Louise Bourgeois, for etching Goya.
Career path
The Royal Academy of Fine Art, The Hague, Holland
B-Tech printmaking, Kensington & Chelsea College, London
In oil painting I am self taught.
Member of London Group since 2004
Awards
2012 Statutory Awards of MTG – Krakow International Print Triennial 2012
Guangdong Museum Purchase Prize, Qijiang, PR of China
2011 Shortlisted for and acquired by the Ruth Borchard Self portrait Collection
Birgit Skjold Prize for Pillowbook of Endless nights, acquired by V&A National Art Library
First prize, Tabernacle Art competition, MOMA, Wales
2010 Guangdong Museum Purchase Prize, Qijiang, PR of China
2008 Residency Frans Masereel Center, Belgium
2006 Aberystwyth, University of Wales Purchase Prize, Originals 06, London
2003 Presse Papier Award, Biennale Int. d’estampe Contemporaine de Trois-Rivieres, Quebec, Canada
Solo exhibitions
- 2010 mama, mama the bear is loose, Quest 21, Brussels
- 2010 Biting the bullet, Millennium Gallery, St.Ives
- 2010 Sticks and Stones, University Gallery and Baring Wing, Newcastle upon Tyne (more info)
- 2010 Sweet 'n Low, Viktor Wynd Fine Art Inc., London (more info)
- 2008 Down the rabbit hole, School of Art Gallery Aberystwyth University, Aberystwyth (more info)
- 2008 The Weight of smoke/Art influence, East West Gallery, London (more info)
- 2008 The Weight of smoke, Galerie de Buytensael, arnhem, NL
- 2007 The Weight of smoke, De Queeste Art, Watou, Be
- 2007 The Weight of smoke, De Queeste Art, Watou, Belgium (more info)
- 2006 La Petite Mort, Stephanie Burns Fine Art, Canberra, Australia
- 2006 Intimate Conversations, Artonomy Fine Art, Truro, Cornwall
- 2005 La Petite Mort, De Queeste Kunstkamers, Trappistenweg 54, Be 8978 Watou, Belgium
- 2005 La Petite mort, East West Gallery, London
- 2004 Shouts and Wispers, Stephanie Burns Fine Art, Canberra, Australia
- 2004 Silence is easy, De Queeste Kunstkamers, Watou, Belgium
- 2003 You said you loved me, Rmart Gallery, Essen, Germany
- 2003 Sometimes I dream about reality, East West Gallery, London
- 2001 Incomplete Tales, Erasmus Gallery, Rotterdam, Holland
- 2001 All of Me, East West Gallery, London
- 2000 Crossing Borders, Royal Crescent Gallery, Edinburgh, Scotland
- 1999 Close to the Bone, New Hall, Cambridge
- 1999 Burying the Hatchet, The Millinery Works, London
- 1996 Collyer Bristow Gallery, London
- 1994 Galerie Reisel, Rotterdam, Netherlands
- 1993 The Royal Netherlands Embassy, London
- 1988 Last Gallery, London
- 1986 Art Space Gallery, London
- 1983 Clare Hall, Cambridge
- 1982 Stedelijk Museum, Alkmaar, Netherlands
Group exhibitions
- 2011 Leonora Carrington,Marcelle Hanselaar, Tilly Losch, Viktor Wynd Fine Art, London
- 2011 Small is beautiful, Flowers Central, London
- 2010 Beasts Royal, Viktor Wynd Fine Art, London
- 2010 400 women, Shoreditch Town Hall, London (more info)
- 2010 400 women, Shoreditch Town Hall, London
- 2010 Multiplied Art Fair, Christies South Kensington, London
- 2010 The Art of Giving, Saatchi Gallery, London
- 2010 BIMPE IV, print Biennale, touring, Vancouver, Edmonton, Canada
- 2010 London group annual, The Cello Factory, London (more info)
- 2009 X1V Biennale int. de gravure de Sarcelles, 95203 Sarcelles, France, Sarcelles (more info)
- 2009 Black on White, The Framers Gallery, London (more info)
- 2008 drawings & works on paper, East West Gallery, London (more info)
- 2008 Originals 08, Mall Galleries, London W1
- 2007 Recent acquisitions, Part 2, British Museum Printroom, london (more info)
- 2007 Things which go bump in the night, Visual arts Centre,Scunthorpe, Lincs, Scunthorpe (more info)
- 2007 Beyond the Narrative, Pitshanger Manor Gallery, London (more info)
- 2007 6th print Biennale, Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Liege, Belgium (more info)
- 2007 Originals 07, Mall Galleries, London (more info)
- 2005 Uncanny Tales, Touring with Rego, Pacheco, Hanselaar, Grimes, Glynn Vivian Art Gallery, Swansea,, Swansea (more info)
- 2005 5th Biennale Internationale de Gravure, Cabinet des Estampes, MAMAC, Liege, Belgium
- 2005 Biennale Internationale d'estampe contemporaine, Trois-Rivieres, Quebec, Canada
- 2005 'Unladylike', East West Gallery, London
- 2003 National Print Exhibition, The Mall Gallery, London
- 2003 Wrexham Print International, Memorial Gallery, Wrexford
- 2003 Biennale International d'estampe contemporaine in Trois-Rivieres, Galerie d'art du Parc, Trois-Rivieres Quebec , Canada
- 2003 Prizewinners, East West Gallery, London
- 2003 Sons and Mothers, Collins Gallery, Glasgow
- 2003 R A Summer show, Royal Academy, London
- 2003 Uncanny Tales, 'de Buytensael, Arnhem, Holland
- 2002 Art, Age and Gender, FWA, Orleans House, London
- 2002 National print Exhibition, Mall Galleries, London
- 2002 Young Masters prints, Atlanta, Georgia, US
- 2002 40 x 40 Contemporary British Art, Millinery Works, London
- 2001 English Figurative Painting, Galerie Thomas, Hettlage, Munchen
- 2001 International small print Biennale, Morley Gallery, London
- 2001 Bearing Up, East West Gallery, London
- 2001 Art on Paper Fair, Royal College of Art,, London
- 2000 NY AD 2000, DFN Gallery, New York, USA
- 2000 East West Gallery, London
- 2000 Sherjah Arts Museum, United Arab Emirates
- 2000 Modern and Cont British Art, The Millenery Works, London
- 2000 Affordable Art Fair, London, Print Fair, Barbican, London
- 1999 Small and Sexy, East West Gallery, London
- 1999 Modern and Cont British Art, The Millinery Works, London
- 1999 Pictures to Live With, The Millinery Works, London
- 1999 Secret Lives, Axiom Gallery, Cheltenham
- 1999 Art for Life, Morley Gallery, London
- 1998 MWA, Women, Work and Money, KPBG, London
- 1998 Notes From the Underground, Dostoyevsky Museum St Petersburg, Russia
- 1998 Women on Men, Oriel Theatre, Clwyd; Bodelwyddan Castle; Denbighshire School of Art Gallery, University of Wales, Aberystwyth
- 1998 Undercurrents, Woodlands Art Gallery, Blackheath
- 1997 Small Objects of Desire, East West Gallery, London
- 1997 Seven Dutch Artists, The Royal Netherlands Embassy, London
- 1997 Graffik 97, Printmakers, Scunthorpe Museum and Art Gallery, Scunthorpe
- 1997 Unquiet Voices, Doncaster Museum and Art Gallery, Doncaster
- 1997 Gisela Beers, Kensington Contempory Art Fair, London
- 1996 Summer show, Beatrice Royal Gallery, Eastleigh
- 1996 The Human Form, Fairfax Gallery, Tunbridge Wells
- 1996 The Child Within, East West Gallery, London
- 1995 Life's a Beach, City Gallery, Leicester
- 1995 The Sea, Beatrice Royal Gallery, Eastleigh
- 1995 Identity, Towner Art Gallery, Eastbourne
- 1994 Contemporary Portrait Society, London
- 1994 Burlington New Gallery, London
- 1994 Women Light up the Night, Berlin, Germany
- 1994 Magnat Gallery, London
- 1993 Cooling Gallery, London
- 1993 Expressionist Paintings, SW Teachers University, Chongqing, China
- 1992 Eva Jekel Gallery, London
- 1992 Art for Sale, Whiteley's, London
- 1992 Cooling Gallery, London
- 1991 British Month, Roy Miles Gallery, London
- 1991 Galerie Clairfontaine, Luxembourg
- 1990 British Painters, Mall Galleries, London
- 1990 Leinster Fine Art, London
- 1990 Art for China, Smith Gallery, London
- 1989 Link of Affinity, Knapp Gallery, London and Glasgow Art Club, Glasgow
- 1988 Berkeley Square Gallery, London
Curated projects
- 2010 London Original print Fair, Royal Academy of Arts, London (more info)
- 2009 Black dog, red rooster, Kunstauschen , Forchstrasse 32, Herrliberg, Zurich (more info)
- 2009 Metamorphoses, Musee de Saint Maur, La Varenne Saint Hilaire (more info)
- 2008 Discerning Eye, Mall Galleries, London (more info)
- 2008 The threadneedle figurative prize, Mall galleries, london (more info)
Live/Performance
- 2008 Art Influence, on line magazine and You-tube, online magazine (more info)
Competitions, prizes and awards
- 2011 Shortlisted for the Ruth Borchard Selfportait competetion, Kings Place Gallery, London
- 2011 Birgit Skjold Prize for Pillowbook for endless nights, V&A Museum, London
- 2011 First Prize, Tabernacle Art Prize, MOMA, Wales
- 2006 School of Art Gallery and Museum , Aberystwyth Purchase Prize, UWA, Aberystwyth, Wales
- 2003 Presse Papier Award, Biennale internationale d'estampe contemporaine, Trois Rivieres, Quebec, Canada (more info)
Publications
- 2010 Biting the Bullet , Millenium Gallery
- 2007 The weight of smoke (more info)
Web links - gallery/work/projects
Personal website
