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Wings, 95 x 160 cm, two panels.
Hoogenkamp, Jeltje
Jeltje Hoogenkamp
Bio
I was born in 1946 in Sneek, The Netherlands. I studied painting and graphical arts at the Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam. I live in Culemborg with my husband, who is a minister and organizes local and national art projects.
Photo: Marijke Bresser
I am interested in narrative sequences and thematic series. Explicit and implicit allusions to the stories and symbols of the Christian faith play an important role in my work. Subjects like fences of concentration camps, biblical stories, exodus, quails and manna, landscapes, clothes, paradise, eggs and birds, and mother and child are recurring on a regular basis. Poems are a source of inspiration as well.
I have also made a complete series about cupboards. You can do so much with them! You can take things out of them or hide, keep or treasure things in them. The same applies to dresses and coats. A dress can be a baptismal dress, a bridal dress or a party dress. And a coat can hide, keep warm or protect, but you can also prance or boast with it like Josef did.
Wings, 95 x 160 cm, two panels.
There are also works that have been inspired by religious stories. The series ‘Ten Rules’ for instance is based on the Ten Commandments. On these works a kind of landscape can be seen with several coloured layers with a circle above it that looks like the sun. God I portray as perfect, complete, like a circle. People, on the other hand, are rendered straight and angular.
About my work
My work is meditative. As in poems there is room between the lines in my paintings, a space that viewers are free to fill in themselves. I search for extreme simplicity, as only simple forms can depict the unimaginable. I put layer upon layer of paint on paper or canvas. Colours, especially warm colours, play an important role in my work.
The Table of Twelve, 50 x 70 cm.
During the painting process I am always looking for balance. I am not quickly satisfied. I often paint over sections of my work, also good sections, to gain a sense of balance. Hence my canvases literally and figuratively consist of many layers.
I prefer to exhibit in public spaces, so that my paintings can be seen by people walking by. And as they are confronted with the work while they have not asked for it, I don’t want it to be aggressive or depressing. On the contrary, it is my hope that it will offer something positive to them. It is my intention that everyone can find something in my paintings that means something to them. That can be comfort, but also other emotions.
I have also designed book covers and posters. Sets of cards of my work are available.
Easter Station based on Mark, 70 x 100 cm.