Artists

Eveline van de Groep

The world where science embraces the beauty of life. That is the world of artist Eveline van de Groep from Doetinchem. After graduating from the art academy Eveline studied mathematics and psychology. A strange combination? Certainly not commonplace? For Eveline this is a daily reality. “I am interested in science. The search for knowledge intrigues me. At the same time, I cannot imagine a life without a sense of beauty. Even though this is not really part of science. Science has disenchanted the world of some of its shine and colour. Take water, for example. You can’t live without it. But it can also destroy you. It can cleanse you. You can drink it. In science, however, it is no more than H20.”

It is that wonderful combination that makes Eveline feel like a fish in water. In her work she looks for an almost photographic reality, while creating her own reality. Preferably a confronting one, using an expressive face, with eyes that are windows to the soul. “What strikes me is that the longer you work on this subject, the more intangible it becomes. Ultimately, the mystery of ‘man’ is always removed from a rational analysis.”

Eveline does not make fun and cheerful pictures for on the wall. At the most you could refer to them as beautiful women. But you can also see the profundity of life in their faces. It is that profundity that the viewer has to discover for himself. The faces in her paintings tell their own stories, but it is up to the viewer to listen, to feel, to interpret and to understand himself.

The eyes play a special part in her work. There is something intimate about looking into someone’s mind through their eyes. It shows and creates their vulnerability; it is up to the viewer whether or not to do something with it. It is for that reason that the faces do not display clear emotions. That would only distract from the deeper meaning.

Eveline has an extraordinary way of working. Always looking for the beauty of a face. “I am very critical. For my most recent works I was looking for a beautiful, expressive face. I looked for a long time, until I saw a woman sat outside a café. I had to have her. Fortunately she was happy to cooperate.” Eveline takes the pictures in a photo studio. She then stores the images in her photographic memory. Eveline takes her time to interpret the face and to then work on it. Initially the paintings almost look like a photograph. But then the imagination takes over. In her latest series of monumental paintings Eveline has created a challenging combination of face and water. “I enjoy the symbolism of water. Its cleansing effect. The source of life. But water also adds a certain dynamics to an image. It distorts and creates its own reality. I think that’s beautiful, and challenging. Water, fortunately, is much more than H20.”

If you would like to know more about the works of artist Eveline van de Groep, please visit her gallery in Doesburg. Discover and experience.

Miriam Londoño

Calligraphical structures and paper drawings

Miriam Londoño uses paper as the foundation to the innovative technique that she has developed. She transforms lines and words onto paper as if making a drawing in the air or writing a three-dimensional poem. The completed works hang on the wall as transparent strips of paper with decorative letters where the words cast shadows on the wall. The elegant play of light and dark contrasts with the emotional character of the stories described on the paper. This paradox of light and shade can often be seen in her work. Londoño is fascinated by language. Her art works incorporate various life stories. Her work may look refined and somewhat playful, but the themes incorporated within them are certainly not. The work is inspired not only by life stories but also by day-to-day events such as fragments from newspapers, the Internet, books, poems and historical stories. When making her paper drawings Londoño uses the technique that she also uses for calligraphical structures. Here, too, she creates the same duality as with the texts: the drawings are not made on a ground of paper but are formed by the paper itself. There is no ground and so the lines that are sketched on the paper are forced into a logical and coherent structure in the transparent drawings. It is this structure that functions as a replacement for the absent ground.

Sarah Linde

I try to look at my line of thought as objectively as I can, as far as that is possible. I try to consciously follow the patterns in my thoughts and try to break out of them. By playing around with my thoughts and asking questions that I probably will not be able to answer helps me to find another route into discovering what it is in a particular experience that stimulates me to make a drawing.

Line drawings, and now and again a colour. The texture of “hair and fur” feature prominently in my work; both their softness and their roughness, providing protection against the outside world. Fur and hair that cover a warm body.

Heidrun Klos

My drawings are a direct result of the thoughts I have in my head that form through my experiences in life. Once I start on the drawing the picture begins to take form, following my lines of thought, whether rational or based on my emotions. I try to look at my line of thought as objectively as I can, as far as that is possible. I try to consciously follow the patterns in my thoughts and try to break out of them. By playing around with my thoughts and asking questions that I probably will not be able to answer helps me to find another route into discovering what it is in a particular experience that stimulates me to make a drawing. Line drawings, and now and again a colour. The texture of “hair and fur” feature prominently in my work; both their softness and their roughness, providing protection against the outside world. Fur and hair that cover a warm body.

Frank Biemans

"Just as the interval in music forms the space between the tones, the spaces between the glass form an essential part of my work." Frank Biemans makes glass objects and uses, for example, the fusing technique whereby pieces of flat glass are melted into one another. The results can be described as reliefs or objects. They are sometimes more figurative, and other times abstract. The objects are often placed in the (day)light in a space or in front of a window. Wall objects are also possible. In some of his work Frank Biemans uses colour powders to produce a sort of glass painting. Frank Biemans initially became well-known due to his flat glass objects that are composed of simple basic shapes such as triangular and circular segments yet they appear complex and monumental. Frank achieves this by stacking and gluing together the basic forms while shifting or turning them to give an appearance of movement. What’s more, the space between the glass plates as well as the space around the object help to determine the end result. Various objects even have inner spaces incorporated within them. All of these factors mean that an object created by Frank Biemans has to be viewed from all angles in order to appreciate all the details. The monumental aspect of Frank's work can clearly be seen in his outdoor sculptures, which due to their structural forms and thickness of glass are highly suitable for outside. The glass of the outdoor sculptures can be both clear or coloured (or a combination of both) and can incorporate fused elements. Due to the material glass and the constantly changing light, it appears as if the sculptures are constantly changing. Frank Biemans describing his work: "Glass as a material provides me with a challenge due to its transparency and rigidity. In combination with the (day)light, this transparency creates a sort of fourth dimension. Movements, dynamism, rhythm, harmony and space are themes that can be found in my work. Also human qualities, humour, characteristics or associations are expressed in my sculptures."

Louis La Rooy

LOUIS LA ROOY (1947) glass artist at Van Tetterode Glasobjekten BV Amsterdam. Louis La Rooy is specialised in making monumental works of art in glass and steel, and has over 35 years of work experience at Van Tetterode. In addition to working on his own projects, he also carries out work commissioned by artists and architects. Louis studied at the Rietveld Academy and the Rijksacademie in Amsterdam. For many years he has taught application and melting techniques and has had exhibitions both home and abroad. His work is pictorial and uses bright colours with sharp, almost aggressive, accents. The unique sculptures that he produces are pennants, plates and wall panels of an impressive scale. Louis La Rooy has literally breathed new life into the age-old technique of “roll-up”.