Tag Archives: residency

Residency / Emma Schild

22 May – 4 June 2023

Emma‘s research is about expressing the inner world of the performer in an authentic way. With the body as her biggest source of inspiration and an instinctive approach to movement she creates an intimate connection with the audience. After completing the first week of a two-week research period with scenographer Jolein Kop (@joleneheads) at @makershuistilburg, where they explored how a light landscape can become an extension of this inner world. Creating different atmospheres using light and movement, inspired by triggers from the outside world. How can the light become like a living organism in the space? 

Now, she will continue her research at CLOUD Danslab focusing on the sound and movement aspect of the work. How much do external stimuli influence our inner world? How do they transform and echo inside us? What effect do they have on our being?

Emma aims to create a surreal world where we can immerse ourselves in this experience. 

Photo: Jostijn Ligtvoet Fotografie
Editen by: Luay Salha

“So, now what?” | Residency | Ana Sofie Meireles & Evelyn Hutchings

From 14 – 20 November 2022

Presentation: Friday 18 November 20:00 – door open 15 min. before

Synopsis:

There is frustration attached to us, for some reason or another, it fills us up with  questions, emotions, reflections. It comes up when we are not able to control something  that happened, something that we didn’t want to feel, or be. It’s triggered once  something doesn’t match the expectations, ours, of other people or the environment  around us. 

“So, now what?” explores the individual yet collective physical and emotional  experience of two people that are framed into a society, controlled into fitting a type,  while facing an unpredictable world, in which a lot is out of their own control. How does it feel to be controlled but not to be able to control? 

Biographies: 

Ana Meireles 

Ana Meireles is a dancer and young maker born in Porto. She initiated her dance studies  at Ginasiano Escola de Dança and concluded in 2021 her Dance Bachelor studies at  ArtEZ University of the Arts, in The Netherlands. 

During the last year of education at ArtEZ, Ana had an internship with the dance  company Another Kind of Blue, in The Hague, and developed her skills as a maker with  the creation of two pieces. She is currently working as a freelance dancer, maker and  dance teacher. 

Evelyn Hutchings  

Evelyn Hutchings is a dancer and young maker born in Palermo, Italy. She was part of the Eko Dance Project of Pompea Santoro and the I.C.D Professional  Dance Program. She finished her Bachelor studies in 2021 at ArtEZ University of the  Arts, in The Netherlands. During the last year of education at ArtEZ, Evelyn had an  internship with the dance company Another Kind of Blue, in The Hague, with the 

company Equilibrio Dinamico, in Italy, and created three pieces. She is currently  working as a freelance dancer and maker. 

Project description: 

We began working with the idea of social manipulation, the idea that we, as members  of a society, are constantly a target for being told what to do, what to wear, what to  say, who to be. And from the outside, a lot of us will act accordingly, and fit the frame  that we are put in. Everything is then done and said according to the rules, to the beliefs  and opinions of those in higher authority positions, those who have the power to  control.  

Later, we began to be interested in exploring what this concept means to us, personally,  emotionally and physically. What triggers us when we think about this framed world  and our obligation to fit in it. We felt frustration, each of us in a different way and for  different reasons, but we both felt it. We connected this feeling to our concept in the  way that it relates to wanting to go out of this frame, but not having the control to do  so. Everything beyond us is out of our hands, so there is a constant fight between us  and the world out there, where the actions of others and the actions of nature are  unpredictable and out of our control, while we struggle to get us out of the frame.  

The feeling is of helplessness, there are questions, emotions, reflections, plans. It feels  suffocating and the body becomes tense, there is so much information running through  our heads and our biggest question is, what can I do? What is possible for me to do in  this world that people fight to get control of, where I feel I have no control in anything  but myself, and somehow, everyone has control over me? 

We are now in the process of exploring all these ideas and finding out how the body  reacts to them. Our goal is to present a personal perspective on this concept, showing  not only out it looks from the outside, how we just do what we are supposed to do in  this framed society, but also how we internally struggle through fitting into it and not  wanting to.

curious? click link to listen to a short interview with the makers :

https://vimeo.com/774744497

BEING & BECOMING | RESIDENCY | OONA MINOO

6-19 June 2022

Presentation : Friday June 17, 7:30 PM

How did we become what we are? What shapes us, what makes us decide to choose one way or the other? And is it possible to transform oneself into someone or something completely different?

Humans are developing and transforming themselves continuously. Like a never-ending micro evolution. Being & Becoming searches for the very first moments, movements, and thoughts in our lives – still so flexible and adaptable that we could almost go in every direction. It is also about the courage to leave what does not fit anymore and about trying something new.

Celebrating all the different kinds of transformation: smoothly, slowly, unconscious, controlled, explosive and never ending.

During this residency I will be further developing my piece, (re)searching for ways to embody transformation. Especially the ones, that surprise yourself.

Research questions will be:

Is it possible to create movements that you never done before? And if yes, how?

A special focus will also be brought to the relationship between movement and (live) music:

How does music influence movement improvisation?

What difference does it make if this music is played live?

What inspiration can movement offer for (live) music creation?

During the last days of this residency electronic composer and synth player Maria Solberger ( AT) will join me to experiment with ways of adaption, fusion and distinction between music and movement.

On our last day we would be happy to invite you for our presentation: Friday 17th June 19:30

About the artist: Una Wiplinger (AT/NL) is a choreographer/dancer and musician/composer. Under her artistic name OONA MINOO she creates interdisciplinary performances, that use dance and music as ways to connect to and communicate with the audience and go beyond genre borders.

www.oonaminoo.com

RESIDENCY | RECONNECT | BODIES IN ACTION

11 – 15 April 2022

Open classes every morning 10:30 -11:15 AM

Showing Friday 15 April 19:30 – 21:30

Julian & Shira from Bodies In Action ~ enGendering Contemporary Dance from England will be starting a new Research in the Cloud studio.

We will look at what it is like to reconnect with something unfamiliar. This can be taken in an abstract or literal sense. It will be quite a personal residency, with opportunity to take things we are familiar with, throw them out the window, and discover new things both physically, emotionally, and mentally.

Some questions and ideas we have while playing with this new creation is: 

  1. How do unfamiliar bodies become familiar once again? How does the familiarity change?
  2. Does the reconnection of something that seems distant automatically reconnect or not?
  3. How does one/something smell, look, feel different? Can this happen with both a person and materialistic thing ?
  4. How do we transform the act of “re-meeting” into something abstract and visual? 
  5. How does the amount of time apart from someone/something affect the reconnection of this?

Through these questions and figuring out the answers, we will find ways to manifest the creative process through physical tasks in order to generate material. We will take inspiration from our own unique experience as well as gather other experiences from our individual selves to tackle the question of how we reconnect with estranged individuals. 

At the CLOUD/Danslab residency, we will invite people to come and take class in the morning.

Depending on what the space allows for, we will either guide a meditation/pilates/movement class or if professional dancers would like, we will host a ballet for contemporary dancers; otherwise, we will do a combination of both.

if you want more information about the classes please contact Julian: bodiesinactiondance@gmail.com

We will host a showing at the end of the week

to gather the immediate community to see what we have been up to. After this showing, there will be a discussion based on what people saw.

https://www.bodiesinaction.org/home

https://instagram.com/bodiesinactiondance

RESIDENCY | STONE NETWORK | Anna Bierler and Marit Mihklepp

8-12 March 2022

Stone Network is a knot of gatherings initiated by Anna Bierler and Marit Mihklepp. They begin weaving the network with a week-long residency-ritual – from March 8-12 – to connect the voices and bodies of the geologic and the human, as well as focus on modes of writing and reading as spaces for intimacy and collectivity. 

Each day an invited guest will be sharing their practice as an intensive learning and playing session:

Tuesday, 8.3. with Juliette Lizotte

Wednesday, 9.3. with Greta Facchinato

–Thursday, 10.3. with Cocky Eek

–Friday, 11.3. with Undead Matter

–Saturday, 12.3. with Comfort Ball

🪨

From March 8–12 between 7pm–8pm the public is invited to join for interactive radio-experiments on Good Times Bad Times. Streaming live from CLOUD Danslab in The Hague, we’ll explore reading and writing as a collective practice while tending to stones and the stories they carry.

To participate, please enter the chatroom of Good Times Bad Times

🔗

Every summer I gather a few stones from
the beach and keep them in a glass bowl.
Now and again I cover them with water,
and they drink. There’s no question about
this; I put tinfoil over the bowl, tightly,
yet the water disappears. This doesn’t
mean we ever have a conversation, or that
they have the kind of feelings we do, yet
it might mean something. Whatever the
stones are, they don’t lie in the water
and do nothing.
Some of my friends refuse to believe it
happens, even though they’ve seen it. But
a few others—I’ve seen them walking down
the beach holding a few stones, and they
look at them rather more closely now.
Once in a while, I swear, I’ve even heard
one or two of them saying “Hello.”
Which, I think, does no harm to anyone or
anything, does it?

Mary Oliver, Watering the Stones

📡

Let’s meet in the chatroom!

xoxo Stone Network

This project is made possible with the kind support of creative industries fund NL

call for participatory audience | Tatiana Kolganova

Please choose one or more days in which you will like to join

May 24, 28, 29, 31 | From 12.00-14.00.

(presentation: Thursday 5 Juli  19:00)

contact Tatiana via: tanianak@gmail.com

Tatiana Kolganova is a multimedia artist and researcher. She explores human relationships with a natural environment. Mostly her art practice focuses on the intersection of language, imagination and human senses. Working with different media Tatiana is interested in creation of an art experience with active participation of an audience.

Currently she studies master program of Fine Art at HKU, University of Art, Utrecht NL.

During her residency at Cloud, artist Tatiana Kolganova will develop a participatory performance about imaginary contact with a natural landscape.

Everyone is welcome to join in the process of work and explore the different aspects of collective and personal imagination.

We will experiment with:

-Representative elements of a landscape.

-The power of a ceremonial process

-Different layers of personal imagination.

-Collective creation of an imaginary natural environment

and others prepared and unexpected elements.

After each session we will have a short discussion about the process.

Art lab: your collective movement (work in progress)

What: a sensorial exercise for a small group of people in complete darkness
For who: open call for test audience, free entry
By who: Aisha Pagnes 


“The defensive and unfocused gaze of our time, burdened by sensory overload, may eventually open up new realms of vision and thought, freed of the implicit desire of the eye for control and power.” Juhani Pallasmaa
And perhaps by relying on our sensorial capacity and perceptual ability we can fertilise the grounds of these new realms through artistic experiences, so that we may reclaim the gaze of our whole being.

How does a darkened safe space influence the way we perceive ourselves, our environment and one another?
Over the course of one week, CLOUD/Danslab will become a completely darkened environment.

During this period, I will gently guide you through daily sessions that work toward our sense of presence, sensorial awareness and felt connection.

What does it look like:
We will move delicately in the dark through a sequence of simple movements. Each person is equipped with two light dots* for visual reference.
*(Light-dot: a 6mm magnetised dot that clips on clothing. In darkness it glows white. The glow dims naturally over time).

What will be practically explored:
– When our senses of proprioception, hearing and vision are fully activated in a darkened space, how is our perception of self and of the other influenced?

– How emergent movement is experienced meaningfully in an unconventional environment.

– How verbal variations of the same instructions influence audience participation.

– How can we effectively compose such experience? (one that is repeatable, has a clear beginning, entry, exit and quality).

What can you expect:
– To be an active part of the creative collective process, aimed at finalising a time-based perceptual composition that lends itself to a broader audience as a participatory experience.

We will brainstorm together, go through iterations of movement and sensorial exercises to improve concentration and a sense of togetherness. Your input and feedback as a creative being will shape the week’s progress.

– A warm and friendly environment, with tea, coffee and snacks. In this, a chance to experience this same environment in an expanded and evocative way.

When:
based on your availability, open from Monday 7th to Sunday 13th of May. Times to be decided.

This practice week is part of a work in progress which focuses on audience participation and interaction, whereby simple means such as absence of light and basic movements are the elements driving the poetic experience. Below an excerpt of the sequence:

Situation Body: Participants wear a light-dot on the chest (above clothing) and on the back. The room is completely dark.

Begin by standing upright and still.
As if you were a singly entity,
arrive in unison with the others to a comfortable walking pace.

[…]

Profile: Currently studying at the ArtScience Interfaculty, I set up interactive installations where audience participation is the primary concern, as a result, test audiences are key influences in the various stages of development. Non-verbal communication and sensory awareness is a recurrent theme in what I look for. http://cargocollective.com/arp

If you would like to participate or want to know more please get in touch: ryannon.aisha@gmail.com

Residency | Da Solo | Lorenzo Capodieci

From 15th to 19th February and from 29th February to 4th March 2016, Lorenzo Capodieci will be working at CLOUD Studio

Program residency

Open Training*
15 – 19 February | 10:00 – 12:00
29 February – 4 March  | 10:00 – 12:00
Cost: €7,- per class

Presentation
Friday, 4 March | 19:00

About ‘Da Solo’

‘Da Solo’ is a research and interrogation about loneliness and garbage. Lorenzo will explore questions such as:
What do you do when you are alone?
What are the different emotions involved in being alone?
How can you overcome loneliness by finding “company” around you?

The other underlining theme of the solo research is Waste/Garbage.
There is something called “The Culture of Waste” that is very present in our societies. A culture that advertises throwing away as the way to get rid of the old to take something new.
This culture is taking us also in the way we deal with people and relationships.

Going back to loneliness, in this solo Lorenzo wants to meditate  on the relation between being lonely and feeling like garbage and at the same time finding a new role of garbage in our lives to, somehow, not feel alone anymore. To touch also themes as Dignity, Honor and Self-hatred.

In his research it is crucial the exploration of dramaturgy through the use of different performing media: dance, theater, music and light. Interconnecting the different disciplines to serve the purpose of giving the message to the audience and allowing this interconnection to affect the content of the research.

* Open Trainings
CLOUD resident Lorenzo gives physical morning classes  with elements of Flying Low,  followed by a short choreographic and improvisation workshop on the theme of his research.
Facebook

About Lorenzo Capodieci
Lorenzo Capodieci, graduated in 2013 from Codarts, Rotterdam Dance Academy, where he started developing his own language and experimenting new performing ideas. Currently he is a freelance dancer, working with different choreographers and companies in The Netherlands, such as Cecilia Moisio, Karine Guizzo, Cie. Woest and more.

As a maker he wants to put in the center of the research the relation to the public and the true communication through the body. Treating social issues on the physical level, through its relation with our own bodies, to make us able to address them without ideology and with the true experience of the body.

Residency: Idan Sharabi & Dancers

residency CLOUD feb 2014
residency CLOUD feb 2014

Sharing of the research: Thursday 27 feb. @ 6:30 pm

Makom 

by Idan Sharabi & Dancers

Choreography & Soundtrack: Idan Sharabi

Music: Byetone, Joni Mitchell, F. Chopin, Interviews by Sharabi.

Dancers: Rachel Patrice Fallon, Dor Mamalia, Ema Yuasa & Idan Sharabi.

For the past three years I have been exploring the concept of home in my choreographic work.

This word has always had deep emotional connotations for me. Recently, I was curious to find out more about other people’s views, so I started interviewing some friends of mine. The interview began with the questions: What is home for you?  Where are you from? Where do you live? Do you feel at home now? All interviews interpreted home as different things, creating opportunities to discuss broad concepts such as origin, identity, society, body and more. It became clear to me that people perceived themselves as the reflection of their homes; their language, family, occupation, possession, injuries, love, etc. Eventually, when starting my creation process with Dor, Ema and Rachel, I felt the need to find a new home for all four of us.

“Makom” in Hebrew means a place.

We started by looking for a common place and we ended up here, today.

a little preview of their research work in CLOUD:

Idan Sharabi & Dancers was founded by Sharabi in fall 2012.

In Aug. 10′, Sharabi created “Home”, which was the first step in getting the group together. Two years later, he created “Joni Solos Series” which was immediately invited by ilDance to tour Sweden. Then the group was invited to perform a full evening “3Works”, in Suzanne Dellal Center, Tel aviv, in April 13′. The following August the group was invited to perform it again in The Macholohet Summer Dance Festival 13′. Following these shows, they were invited by The Danish Dance Theater to perform “Adar” in The Copenhagen Summer Dance Festival, Denmark. The next fall Sharabi & Dancers were supported by The Israel Festival and Israel Ministry of Culture to premier “Nishbar” as a part of Curtain Up in Suzanne Dellal, Tel Aviv and right after were chosen to participate in The International Exposure Festival 13′.

Idan Sharabi was born in Israel, 1984. He graduated Thelma Yellin and The Juilliard School before he danced in Netherlands Dans Theater and Batsheva Dance Company. He was chosen to create for NDT Upcoming Choreographers 10′ and has won The Zeraspe Award 06′, Copenhagen International Choreography Competition 12′, and The Mahol Shalem International Competition 13′. Between 2011-13 he created for “TheProject” of The Israeli Opera House, KCDC, The Israel Ballet, Ballet Junior de Geneve, NND, ZDT, and EBBC. Last season, Sharabi was chosen to be one of the 9 promising young artists of Israel by American Express and founded his group ‘Idan Sharabi & Dancers’ in Sep. 12′.

Idan Sharabi has been supported by American Express TYP Project, The Ministry of Culture, The Israel Festival, Suzanne Dellal, Bikurey Ha-Itim, The AICF, The Israeli Opera House, The Juilliard School Donors and a donor of The Dance Library of Israel Organization

Dor Mamlia was born in Israel, 1985.

Dor is the 2013 Israeli Minister of Culture Prize winner for ‘Best Cast Performance’, and the winner of ZOA scholarship for young artists in 2006. He started his training in The KCDC Workshop Institute, before joining KCDC. After he joined Fresko Dance Company and ‘TheProject’ of The Israeli Opera House. There he danced pieces by William Forsythe , Jacopo Godani, Emanuel Gat and Idan Sharabi. Then he joined Vertigo Dance Company and freelanced with Sharabi. A year later, he joined ‘Idan Sharabi & Dancers’, and ever since he has been performing with the group and teaching Sharabi Workshops in Europe. Dor has also worked with Barak Marshel, Saar Magal ,Karl Schreiner and Keren Rosenberg.

Ema Yuasa was born in Japan, 1983.

Ema started dancing in Ikemoto Ballet School, in Hiroshima, before she entered The ‘Académie de Danse Classique – Princesse Grace’, in Monaco. Upon her graduation, she joined Dresden Ballet and later joined Ballet de l’Opéra de Nice. After she joined Nederlands Dans Theater where she met Sharabi. In 10′, She joined ‘Idan Sharabi & Dancers’, dancing ‘Home’ in Suzanne Dellal Center, Tel aviv, Israel.

Rachel P. Fallon was born in the U.S, 1990. Post graduation from the Lines Ballet Training Program, she went on to dance for companies such as Tiny Pistol, Sidra Bell Dance New York and Zhukov Dance Theater. She is currently freelancing with Loni Landon Dance Projects, Bryan Arias and Idan Sharabi and Dancers.

 

We’d like to thank The CLOUD Den Haag, Tami Weiss, and Mary Louise Albert for granting us the opportunity and making this possible.

Residency & classes: Aida Guirro Salinas

Next two weeks from the 21 January – 1 February Aïda Guirro is doing a research process in CLOUD. She is happy to be accompanied by the dancers Michael Wälti and Inbal Abir and the musician Arvind Ganga. During this week they will be teaching dance and movement in Cloud studio in the afternoons and welcome people to join their classes and explore with them. Michael Wälti teaches martial arts- impro class. Inbal Abir and Aïda Guirro contemporary.

 

In the world of the wisher, he will meet his God and his mind

 

When we think about wishes, we tend to relate them to fairy tales, kids matters or naive subjects.

I look for ways to recognize our behavior in relation to wishing and having goals. How do we achieve a wish? How do we act when we really want something or not?

Goals, there are different kinds depending on society, personal development, culture influence, etc. Depending on the situation we are in, specific wishes will be brought to light.

Either way, they are there waiting for us to be heard.

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We researched into questions like:

 

How can we know about our wishes?

What is listening to them?

How intense can wishing become?

Is there a separation between thoughts and the wishing person?

Do thoughts relate in conflict or with harmony?

During two weeks we have dived into the wishes world. That was just the beginning of a research which has the potential to develop in many different directions. I am glad I can research along my daily life about it, that’s what is about.

IMG_8300
Outcome PRESENTATION 31/1, of their two weeks research at 19:00 in CLOUD. You are welcome to watch and feedback us!!

 

 

 

M|M mirror’s me

Jip Heijenga – M|M mirror’s me

Jip Heijenga is danseres en student aan de dansacademie ArtEZ in Arnhem, afdeling dansmaker. Zij deed een onderzoek naar de ongepolijste bewegingsinput (materiaal en presence) van niet-getrainde dansers. Nu wil zij met conservatorium-studenten (jazz en compositie) een volgende stap maken door hun bewegingen als muzikant te bestuderen, maar ook met hen als bewegers aan de slag te gaan, los van hun instrument.

Jip Heijenga zal dit jaar afstuderen aan ArtEZ school of dance in Arnhem als danser/dans-maker. Ze is nu bezig met haar stage bij dansgezelschap de Stilte. Daarnaast is ze voor de minor dans–maker begonnen aan het project M | M mirror’s me (working title).Via Fransien vd Putt is ze betrokken geraakt bij Cloud en kreeg ze de mogelijkheid om onderzoek te doen voor haar project.

Tijdens het kijken naar jazz optredens raakte Jip geïnspireerd en ontdekte een minimalistische dans in de bewegingen van de muzikanten. Ze bewegen niet op de muziek, maar bewegen om muziek te produceren. Muziek nodigt niet alleen uit tot beweging, het ontstaat als gevolg van beweging. Deze ontdekkingen inspireerde Jip als dans maker.

jip1

Dit bracht haar tot een samenwerking met Justina Šikšnelytė, master student compositie aan het koninklijk conservatorium Den Haag. Samen creëren ze één score voor de dansers en muzikanten die de structuur zal vormen voor hun stuk mirror’s me. Onder leiding van de choreografe en componiste experimenteerde en improviseerde drie dansers, drie saxofonisten en een percussionist in de Cloud studio met het idee; muziek spiegelen aan dans, en andersom. Tijdens het proces werd spiegelen verder onderzocht en kreeg een groter belang. Hoe spiegelt (interpreteert/vertaald) een danser de melodie van de saxofoon in haar eigen instrument het lichaam? Kunnen de bewegingen van de twee instrumenten (lichaam/saxofoon) dichter bij elkaar komen? Jip en Justina zijn opzoek gegaan naar een nieuw genre van optreden waarin muziek en dans niet in dienst staan voor elkaar maar een synthese vormen met een eigen betekenis.

jip2

Residency: Bima Engels

Story lines

A simulation of a sword fight between Bima Engels and Lukas van Buuren at Cloud.

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“My love for abstract painting is strongly related to my fascination for skies, endless landscapes and astronomy. ”

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During my stay at CLOUD, I investigated the meaning of story lines and how they slowly become an abstract story of silence, movement, emotion and war.

I am not a story teller, still my love for theatre, dance, mime and performance played an important part inrealizing this performance. By incorporating these elements in my project, I hope to create a performance which showed some kind of Japanese, abstract fairy- tale.

But the key stone of the performance was not based on a story or a crystal clear concept. No, I just wanted to understand the universal character of story lines, how they move, how they flow, how they suddenly reappear making a statement.

Statements like:

Sword fighting , placing a chair, walking over chairs, standing up and sitting down, making a line on a white surface, standing behind a chair , observing the drawing of a line on the wall etc…

All these key moments are connected with one and other, forming a network of story lines.

The topic of making connections between the different chapters of the performance was one of the things I wanted to experience. Because I am painter who loves painting lines who break or go on , especially the lines who go on in endeavoring new directions. This forms the foundation of the performance I developed in CLOUD.

Also my love for sword fighting reflects, IF, it is used in the right way, something which has nothing to do with killing or breaking your opponent at all. No, in the contrary, a good sword fight is not about hatred or fear, but giving strength and making dark emotions disappear. Making yourself and your opponent stronger and wisher.

It was a personal eye opener , when I realized that the lines I painted so many times , suddenly became alive and were walking outside their framework of paper and paint

A strange, but marvelous experience.

I …. also was confronted with the hard reality of fighting and giving calmness.

It’s too early to say what the impact will be of this experiment . Nevertheless it opened too me a new area of space and line.

 

Bima Engels

 

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The main topic of my work is painting gigantic, endless, abstract worlds which form poetic reflections of an universe.

Already during my Academy time, I instinctively started investigating these directions.By studying modern abstract painting , combined with Classical Japanese landscape painting , I slowly developed a style, which forms now the basis of my work.

I came to the conclusion that an abstract painting should be more than only an expression of an emotion or an abstract impression of reality. It also should contain stories, maps, war zones, ideas, experiences or beautiful areas, which just consist of colours and lines.

The large scale of my paintings emphasizes the grandeur and infinity of the abstract image. But more important, I actually have to work with space, when I am standing in front of a huge canvas , a challenge which gives me every time a kick.

Violence plays a significant role in my paintings , because if you paint an abstract world you eventually will discover that you can’t ignore the disharmonious elements.    This means an abstract painting should show a totality , which of course , is not only beautiful but also has shadow sides to it.

The rough philosophy of Heraclitus and Nietzsche from essential guidelines for me to understand this aspect.

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Still the real starting point always will be the phrase:  My dear universe,

By simply addressing a space with “My dear universe,” I can start painting an abstract world which reflects something of an universe.

This is what I am exploring as an artist.

 

Bima Engels

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Photos by Francina Stolk

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Bima Engels: www.bimaengels.com