Last week’s studio visit at Celine van den Boorn. Her new work is presented at This Art Fair in August in Amsterdam this year. www.celinevandenboorn.com
The themes in her work vary from relevant social matters to ´ lighter’ subjects, such as very touristy landscapes.
While adding a layer of acrylic on photo’s she carefully decides what to reveal and what to ´ erase’. By doing so the focus of the image shifts from human presence to nature. The –often- harsh reality of the original image is present in a very latent, indirect way, through a newly created landscape.
In the series ‘Refugee Works’ (2019) the dots are a glimpse of the bright coloured jackets the children were wearing in refugee camp Moria. ‘Adding’ a rather hopeful element in contrast to the tragic truth.
In ´ the series ‘Military Works’ (2012) soldiers in warfare ‘evolve’ in their surrounding environment. The focus shifts from human beings in extreme situations to new ‘landscapes’.
In assignment of the Nato in Brussels she made 16 works, theme mission Afghanistan https://celinevandenboorn.com/work/paratroopers-at-the-end-of-a-helicopter-assault/
It is interesting to see how her studies in visual art and cultural anthropology, specialisation, nature-culture relations, both influence her work.
In the series ‘Tourist works’ she plays with human presence at very touristy landscapes. In her publication The Promise she restores the illusion of a fairy tale winterlandscape, the idea arose while scrolling through a tourist brochure of Austria.
The best experience, especially with this work, is to see the work live. To see and feel the tension between the painted areas and the photo. Celine’s new series ‘Refugee Works’ will be exhibited at This Art Fair in August in Amsterdam.
Kim meets 