When examining my paintings, one will notice the frenetic energy that is present throughout the work. Upon investigating more closely, it will become apparent that this activity is the essence of each mark. In this sense, painting is a personal act that works to understand the subject. Whether the subject be that of the internal world of the artist or a literal form of the external world, it is the very translation of thought to form that ignites life within the painting.
As an artist, I wish to use the paint as a medium to explore this kindred connection that exists between the mark and intention.
Although my practice remains figurative, it must be stressed that the majority of my inspiration stems from an internal source, something that is not driven by the literal subject. This has resulted in an impasto application of oil paint where variables such as speed, force and motion activate endless possibilities within each mark. Painting has come to be about capturing what occurs within the present moment. Whether this is from within the time to mentally prepare and “enter into” the painting, to the physical contact made of brush onto canvas.
The artwork itself is a result of a conducted spiritual process, where varying brushwork reflects the subtle layers of an authentic human response.
Holly Zandbergen
Holly Zandbergen, an emerging New Zealand artist based in London is quickly establishing an international reputation for herself. In February 2016 one of her works was selected to exhibit with the Columbia readneedle Exhibition at the London Mall Galleries and at the Palazzo Strozzi in Florence in July of the same year. In 2013 she was shortlisted for the NZAAT Emerging Artist Award and took out the coveted ‘Best Young Artist’ Award in the UK’s National Open Art Competition, which exhibited at the Royal College of Art in London in 2015.
Building on both internal and external experiences, this young artist pulls viewers into a sensory intimacy through a fluid and gestural use of very thickly applied oil paint. roughout the painting process Zandbergen is constantly dancing between bold moves and delicate responses to the paint, in the moment and serene, yet full of an intense energy. Zandbergen brings the full weight of her process and expression to bear in her paintings. Always open to the discoveries to be found in the bold application of oil paint on canvas, but is always mindful and poised to employ a more delicate brush stroke. It is her ability to mould abstract formations into deeply intimate, signicant, gurative depictions that seem to strike a sensory chord with the viewer. “I want to saturate the viewer’s emotional subconscious with these vivid river paintings,” Zandbergen says of her recent ‘e River’ series. “To feel the currents, murkiness and heaviness of the water pressing against one’s legs. ese are the times of a miraculous past, where the river gave us excitement, joy and a place to escape.”
Graham A. Hunter of the Graham Hunter Gallery in London, who hosted Zandbergen’s first solo exhibition, ‘The River’ in March 2016 has the following to say about the artist: “Holly employs her technique with skill and intent, each stroke, rhythmic and self informing. She has the ability to pull you deep into the story but to then bring you up from the depths of paint, so you and your eyes rested upon a scene, serene and of the moment. You will be forever captured by its simplicity.”
https://www.saatchiart.com/hollyzandbergen
ARTICHOKE art group 