Annemijn van der Beek

"This collection of works responds to an increasingly difficult-to-keep-up-with digital world by stripping back to the ‘primordial’ in our stories, drawing from the misty fragments predating Odysseus or Oetnapishtim. Stripped of their original context, a fragmented new narrative emerges, full of fears, temptations and victories, in which that essence seems just as applicable now as it did then.

I found immediacy in cutting, whilst making studies of Matisse. I enjoy it. I can shift, trim, paste; it is fantastic and intuitive. Through cutting, line and form merge; there is a naturalness and an explosion of energy in a cut line that a painted reflection will never achieve. Cutting severs, paint covers. Cutting frees me from restrictions during the creative process, allowing that intuition and direct essence into my work. It is a simplification. It leaves fewer questions unanswered, and I can focus entirely on surface and composition. This currently goes hand in hand with the choice to work entirely in black and white.

My artistic practice is an anchor and a starting point for giving back something that I feel has been taken away from both the viewer and myself. A first step; for finding an alternative to these predatory, neoliberal, profit-driven systems is a distant destination that I cannot reach on my own. But I declare war on advertisements. I see it as my duty to create art that is focused, thoughtful and honest. Art that respects the viewer. Art that radiates love – for people, nature and the world. Love and joy. Not because sorrow does not exist, but perhaps to endure it, to offer a glimmer of hope in the distance, or to celebrate its passing. Or to enjoy the ordinary life in the complete absence of sorrow."

Contact:
annemijnvdbeek@gmail.com