Esther Tielemans (1976)
As large as a billboard but inescapable in a different way. You might think, with the brilliance and clarity of the glossy, bright colour fields the paintings of Esther Tielemans are composed of, you can get the whole picture in one glance. But appearances can be deceiving. In fact, she creates spatial objects with her paintings that invite the viewer in to be enveloped. Each panel is a reflective surface and multiple panels combine to form layered installations full of angles and depths.
For Tielemans nature is a construction to be painted. She blends monochrome fields together with a shock of brilliantly coloured exotic plants. Then she uses epoxy and enamel paint to underscore both the attraction and the artificiality of the paradise-like landscape. But rather than genuinely evoking associations with the beauty of nature, her use of paint is more likely to be seen as a commentary on the all-consuming speed and harshness of modern life.* Tielemans applies her paint in bold brushstrokes, sometimes even pouring it on. The contrasts between soft matte and hard, glossy paint, coupled with the spatial construction, invites the viewer to study her pieces up close. Tielemans was awarded the Royal Subsidy for Painting in 2002.
* www.kunstbus.nl, 03.12.2008
