|
20 July - 5 August 2006 |
|
Show and Tell new works on paper by Anne Marie Verbeek
Anne Marie Verbeek is a Wellington artist who was born of Dutch immigrant parents nearly fifty years ago, and raised in the South Island. She is a country girl, a mother, an artist and a Christian. Her artistic expression touches on all these factors; who I am, what I am and where I belong, why I do what I do, and where I am going…
She has two main categories of paintings: in the first group the idea gets onto a surface ‘in one hit’ – more or less a painted drawing. The second group is the result of experimentation, layers, fumbles and re-thinks. These may need to be set-aside for a time, and then further worked on before something satisfactory emerges. This messy process has a life of its own and is fraught with the tension of potential failure. Some works have taken a period of years to complete. Finished paintings may have a crusty look and texture; there is great risk for overworked-ness. A key to resolution has, at times, been as simple as finding a good title.
This complicated process produces no better or worse results than the first, but there is satisfaction in having persisted and overcome, and hopefully some tangible depth reflecting that struggle. Explanation for this approach is partly in her reluctance to throw anything away. In this sense she is a truly environmental artist, painting on a variety of surfaces and reworking old pieces. Nothing goes to waste. And then editing: weak work and the ‘kill or cure’ treatment. Verbeek enjoys incorporating accidents and making use of ready-made factors such as someone else’s abandoned painting, acknowledged when possible.
Verbeek states that; “Looking back over my art-output, I see patterns and themes occurring in an organic fashion rather than chronological. Good ideas float to the top of my consciousness of their own accord. Intuitive practitioners like myself may execute ideas so freely as to miss effective communicating, but I would prefer to err towards expressiveness than be bogged down with technique and detail. What really matters to me: honesty, strength, and a pinch of humour. And I do like Lots of Oil Paint.”
“I think about relational dynamics quite a lot. How we express ourselves, how we communicate; how we may be perceived by others. Difficult, unavoidable stuff, painful at times, challenging, even fun. When two people connect, there are dynamics. I think of this visually as ‘the space in between’, like jigsaw puzzle pieces. Different shapes, tensions, volumes.”
Verbeek is a painter’s painter. Her canvases are encrusted with paint, drawings and pictures layered as she works towards the chosen one. Sometimes they show through, allowing us glimpses of gems reworked into a new form. Or else they are revealed on the back of the canvas, giving the buyer a lucky ‘two for one’.
In ‘Show and Tell’, she uses oil sticks to create works which depict figures and faces in portrait style, close up, revealing intimate interactions. Working straight onto the canvas or paper, mixing the colours as she works, she creates lively, rich and vibrant works which showcase her inimitable sense of humour.
“Some people seem to take up more space than others, some draining energy while others enliven. Some bully, some encourage. Some we are drawn to, some we avoid. There is respect, there is invasion. There is compatibility and there are clashes. We personify objects and creatures, relate to things, animals, even plants. We have electronic technology capturing hearts…….These images are my friends, thoughts, observations, experiences, or just having fun.” |
|
Creatures of Comfort
a menagerie of dolls, animals and creatures ranging from hand felted bulls and matadors by Dean Cheyne, to aunties dressed in their Sunday best papier mache glory by Val Sutherland, hand crafted tripeds from the imagination of Carmel McSherry, a variety of felt creatures in ‘Making Marvellous Mammal Music’ by Michele Irving, and much, much more. |
| .. |
|
EXHIBITION ARCHIVES |