Women’s day Online Exhibition & Event

Exhibition

Work

Anika Hochstenbach - 'Verf op botten', Oil on canvas, 90x70 cm

In her work, Anika Hochstenbach focuses on the body or shapes that symbolize it. She aims to create images that convey different experiences of the body, such as alienation or, conversely, admiration. She finds the idea of the body moving through the world captivating; how the body relates to its external environment, such as nature or other bodies. She cherishes the small moments where you hold a plant in your hand, watch the body moving or feel limbs curl around each other when cuddling. While creating, she endeavors to capture as many details of the human form as possible. Following the curves of the ears or stroking skin on canvas enables her to delve deeper into the subject and express appreciation for the person depicted. This allows her to feel at home in her own body or with people around her. She enjoys giving viewers of her work an opportunity to get close and study the body of another without being looked back at. To be curious about the other.

Doris Kolpa - Robbers daughters, Oil on linen, 60x70cm

Through a dialogue from several layers of oil paint, Kolpa seeks for a harmonious human-nature relation based on caretaking.
The landscapes do not serve as a background but form and equal interplay with humans. Lines and forms are blurred so that human and nature seem to merge into each other. The paintings don’t glorify nature but make it be part of everyday life.
The ancient tradition of oil paint is both admired and criticized in her work. Referencing to its history while challenging and transforming aspects such as the objectification of the female body and landscape, as well as the predominantly male canon. The painted women are lying down, playing, or gazing into the distance, unaware of their bodies and unposed. Without use, purpose or possessions, just acts for the sake of the act itself. These in between moments, Kolpa considers a form of protest.
At first glance, the paintings resemble utopian or paradisiacal worlds. After a closer look, a tension unfolds. The black shadows looming between leaves, slumbering banks of fog, or wistful expressions emphasize the ominous, mysterious, and untamable spirit of nature and women.

Sona Asemani - The Golden Stone, Oil on canvas, 40x50cm, 2023

Sona's current practice is concentrated on creating a unique color theory. She uses a lot of distinct colors as a means of expression, exaggerating the shapes to convey power, self-love, and confidence. Sona wants to enchant the viewer with the impressive beauty of natural body shapes, wavy hairs, fluffy legs and arms.

Jennifer Smith - Eye of the beholder, Acrylic and ink on canvas, 140x120cm, 2024

This new work is shifting from a view of a female gaze towards one of a voyeuristic gaze and the psychology of perception. This new series of work is influenced by the painting, Venus at mirror by Diego Velazques. I am interested in the dialogue between viewer and model and challenge the audience to consider their part as an active, voyeuristic participant. My paintings also carry loose threads of stories based on Celtic Mythology.
The power of the gaze is the most important aspect of my paintings. Featuring nude figures, the impact of the gaze and the relationship between the viewer and the mirror, using the body as a site for self-exploration and definition. Maintaining direct and unwavering eye contact with the viewer in a controlling gaze that denotes the sexual pleasure or observation of someone naked. Faces are sometimes hidden or distorted or of animal hybrid, positioning the naked physical form as subject. It alludes to a constant pressure on women in contemporary culture on physical aesthetics, sexuality and behaviour. We are comfortable with a female nude that seduces but what happens when she takes a more active role, away from the desired aesthetic of female presentation.
The physicality of paint, the structural composition of medium and of image making is also at play. The fluidity of the paint, mixing and blurring, through the direction of control but also allowing the element of chance, colours and brushstrokes to define the characters.

Maeve van Klaveren - SACRED PLACE, Watercolour, soft pastel, pastel pencil and charcoal on paper, 30x40cm, 2023

The female figure is depicted serenely surrounded by plants, it give a form of sacredness as Maeve can see a strong, empathetic, mysterious being, close to nature and a symbol of life. When she worked on this drawing, Maeve was thinking about of Venus, the Roman goddess of love, originally an Old Italian goddess of vegetation, protector of gardens and vineyards, later became identified with the Greek Aphrodite.

Noni Madeleine - Is there a wave that is itself alone in the ocean?

Give thanks to the ocean and its waters,
Reminding me of my strength,
Reminding me of my resilience,
Reminding me of the power of womanhood,
Reminding me of my ancestors,
Reminding me of the interconnectedness of all,
Reminding me of everything
that connects me to myself.

Jenetta de Konink - Witte Bloesem, Oil/ embroidery on linen, 90x55cm, 2020

This work is from the series "Omringde Tuin" ("Walled Garden") and was created during the Artist in Residence in Gorredijk. The accomodation of the residency is as a small dot of lush gardens in endless fields and horizons. The contrast between endless fields and the small island of flowers inspired the series "Omringde Tuin". The recurring theme Take Off with the bent over figure is less prominent in this series.

Jenetta de Konink - Red, Oil/ embroidery on linen, 50x40cm, 2021

Red is part of the series "Take Off" (2019-2023). The central theme is the bent over figure reaching down with an arched back, adding tension to the work. Multiple layers of heavy oil paint form a fictive landscape where your gaze rests on the roughly painted embroideries top left and right. the arched figure below demands attention next and the black boots grounds and gives rest to the composition.

Ella Bril - The vintage find, 80x100cm

Ella creates large-scale paintings which are often figurative and inspired by people who she encounters in her everyday life. She recreates them on canvas in their own realm, sometimes staring out at the viewer and other times gazing softly into an undefined space. The figures appear alone or in groups, and are surrounded by expansive planes of bright color, abstract imagery, and heavy gestural marks. Themes of nature, movement, and color also surface in her work.

Lisa van Oosten - Except It Wasn't A Dream, 70x90cm, Acrylic on canvas

This work is Lisa's interpretation of the 1944 work by Salvador Dalí: Dream Caused by the Flight of a Bee Around a Pomegranate a Second Before Awakening.
In her rendition, the woman is not about to wake up from her dream. In fact, the whole scenario depicted by Dalí seems to be reality. Some time has passed since his depiction of the dreamscape in broad daylight.
Lisa depicted the scenario some hours later, the sun has set and the moon has risen. The woman is not alive anymore due to the rifle shooting her in the stomach. The tigers weren't a figment of her imagination, they're still roaming around, watching over her physical form in a protective manner. Some traces of the fatal afternoon still are left, she dropped the pomegranate (signifier of o.a. ressuraction and virtility), symbolizing that what no longer is or can be. She is no longer able to hold and/or give life.
Time will pass, and those traces too, will vanish from the scene.
Despite the gloomy and dark energy of the painting, it gives Lisa tremendous peace looking at it. It tells her to be trusting and accepting of faith.
It's all working out like life is supposed to work out.

Lisa van Oosten - Succhiano L'Amore In Latte, 30x40cm, Acrylic on canvas

The work touches upon themes related to ecofeminism.
In this movement it is believed the destruction of the earth and the exploitation of women and minority groups go hand in hand/can be compared. The land is being robbed and cultivated until there is nothing left to take, just as female bodies are being sucked dry for the sake of sustaining life.
Capitalism, the destructor of mother earth, was only able to thrive thanks to the (physical) sacrifices made by women.
The titel roughly translates to: milk consumed as love.

Participants

Sona Asemani

Sona Asemani (b.1994) is an Iranian Artist. A self-taught artist, she received her BA in economics from the ATU University of Tehran in 2017. Ever since then, she has dedicated her time to making art.
She started with acrylic paint and had her first group show in 2018 in Tehran. From 2019 to 2020, Sona focused on textile designing and embroidery art and sold over 150 pieces of her embroidery artworks worldwide during this one year. But, she retained her passion for being a professional painter. A new chapter of painting with oil started when Asemani moved to the Netherlands in late 2020. She has been working and living in Rotterdam since then.

Asemani’s practice explores unconditional freedom and gender inequality through personal experience and history. Her subject matter praises femininity, combating body shaming and women’s insecurities made by modern society’s harmful and unrealistic beauty standards.
Sona’s oil paintings celebrate natural beauty and self-confidence while portraying an imaginary world of liberated women through a series of portraits referencing stories and images in which Persian Miniature faces, figures, and symbols inspire her a lot.

Ella Bril

Ella Bril, a Dutch painter based in Amsterdam. Her large-scale figurative paintings draw inspiration from everyday encounters, portraying subjects in their own realm with bold colors, abstract elements, and gestural marks. Exploring the intriguing aspects of human nature, her work merges reality and imagination, creating a slightly elusive space. Through vibrant colors and perspective play, Ella brings characters to life, blurring the lines between recognizable and distant imagery.

Anika Hochstenbach

Anika (2000) is a (visual) artist who graduated from the St. Joost academy in Breda and currently resides and works in Dordrecht. Anika enjoys combining her passion for painting and drawing with her love for organizing and meeting people. This leads her to pursuing things as curating, setting up collectives and teaching. Currently, she works as a host at de Kunstkerk, is a gallery assistant at Tinimini Room and she recently joined the board of Pictura @pictura_dordrecht Besides that, her time is spent watching movies, caring for her numerous plants and enjoying beers with friends.

Maeve van Klaveren

Maeve uses different materials such as watercolor, soft pastel, pencil and charcoal on paper to creates a believable world in powdery drawings. She likes to leave her work open to multiple interpretations. In the work Maeve explores genres of still life and portraiture to create a clear story.
Her work is figurative. What you see is taken from daily life. Something intrigues her and this is processed into her drawings.
The subject often arises from something small, an image or thought. The idea behind a work should not impose.
It does not tell one- on -one a story of sadness, happiness, love, life or death…. But this is often a reason from which a work arises.
These are thoughts Maeve has at that moment that she puts into the drawing.
It is her personal story of how she look at feelings, relationships.. … … desires, connection … … hope and despair, life and death. She tries, as it were, to convey timeless all-rounder common emotion. The figures in her drawings express moods.
Being human and nature are important sources of inspiration.

Doris Kolpa

Doris Kolpa (1996) is a Rotterdam-based artist and alumnus from the St. Joost Academy. Growing up in a city shaped her artistic vision, but it is her love for nature, her female body and intuitive way of thinking which form the roots of Kolpa’s art practice. The suppressed position these themes share in today’s society are explored and questioned through her paintings, poetry and performing. Kolpa exhibited her work around the Netherlands and Belgium. Her most recents include group show ‘Luxe Benen’ at Marian Cramer and solo show ‘Where the Pavement Ends’ at Allard Wildenberg.

Jenetta De Konink

Between 1978 and 1983 Jenetta de Konink (°1958, Rijswijk) studied at the Royal Academy of Art in Den Bosch. In 1983 Jenetta graduated in Fashion Design in the Art and Design department.
Until 2000 she worked as a fashion stylist. Around the turn of the century, the artist finally decided to devote the rest of her life to painting.
Since 2006, she has regularly exhibited in her own country and abroad. She takes part in ‘The Art Fair’ in Amsterdam and has exhibited her work in solo shows at Gallery 57W57ARTS in New York, M21 Gallery in Knokke, Belgium and Moving Gallery in Utrecht.
From the beginning of her art practice Jenetta feels an enormous need to paint. The direct and confident touch of oil paint suggests that the artist wants to make up for her lost years.
After a few years, oil paint as a medium proved to be insufficient for Jenetta de Konink. She explores new ways of expressing herself through her painting. In the VREES (fear) series created in 2018, the artist experimented with pressing unpainted canvas onto the pasty oil paint layer. On these added pieces of canvas she again applies thick layers of oil paint. In this way, multiple layers are created on top of each other, resulting in an enormous layering in her work.
Her technique continues to evolve. Jenetta replaces the pieces of canvas with embroidery patches and carpet residues that she finds in second-hand shops. This step is a logical evolution in her art practice partly thanks to her affinity for textiles. The artist very intuitively pastes the textile remnants onto her work in order to obtain contrast, depth and framing of an image. The pasted embroidery pieces in combination with oil paint ensure that there is a certain playfulness and movement in her work.

Noni Madeleine

Noni Madeleine (1992) is a Dutch-Antillean artist based in Amsterdam. She grew up in Zutphen, a prominent white environment. The lack of representation in stories and images was a factor in the feeling of discomfort she felt within herself. Her search for herself led her to art school, fashion design (2016). After this, working as a print designer in Antwerp and as a visual merchandiser in Amsterdam.
Four years ago, going through a burnout centered around the disconnect felt with herself and her roots, she started painting as a way of expressing, healing, and stepping into her power. One of her last series of paintings, “Chapters about Love, Untold Stories,” is a series about the love stories and examples she had in her family. With every painting reflecting on a different love story and the concept of love.
Her practice led to several exhibitions. The last in January/February ’24: Curaçao Landhuis Bloemhof x Piso Sero and in Amsterdam Bar Bario. She recently started hosting workshops on the theme of healing for adults and children.

Lisa van Oosten

Lisa was raised in Zutphen in the east of The Netherlands. As a daughter of an architect (father) and urban geographer (mother), her parents influenced her sense of aesthetic and architectural detail. Because of this early awareness of art and urban identity she had the chance to develop herself creatively from a young age. As a child she spent time in her father’s atelier, where she found drawing materials in abundance and build models with scrap materials. Later, after a few years of playing around with fashion design she resorted to painting in her late teens. She developed her artistic abilities further while living in Utrecht, where she moved in 2016 to study at the University. There she graduated in 2021, after living in Bologna (Italy) from 2019 to 2020, with a Bachelors in Italian Studies, focusing on (socio)linguistics, and an additional Honours Degree. In the summer of 2023 she co-founded ” Kunstmarkt Noord”, @kunstmarktnoord a monthly indoor affordable art market. Currently she works as the Artist Coordinator for Stichting Zamen Art & Culture Amsterdam.

Jennifer Smith

Jennifer Smith is a visual artist, painting, from rural Ireland now based in Giessenburg in The Netherlands. Jennifer is also founder and curator of Clovermill Artist Residency. Clovermill is a free, not for profit collaboration residency with an international discourse based on the grounds of an old water mill.
She received a Bachelor Degree of Fine Art, Painting in 2005 in Ireland. It was in Limerick that she first began exploring the female nude on large canvas, writing her thesis on perceptions and representations of the female nude.
Following an extended period away from her practice, Jennifer travelled and lived extensively around the world. She returned to painting in 2012, establishing her first artist studio in Dordrecht, The Netherlands.
Most recently Jennifer had her first solo exhibition in The Netherlands, Facing Venus, in Tinimini Room. She completed the postgrad leval Beta course with Contemporary Art Academy 2022. Three of her paintings were exhibited in Animal, a group exhibition with Racecar Factory, Indiana, The U.S and her work was exhibited in Luan Gallery Art Fair group exhibition in Athlone, Ireland.