This extremely hectic year, students had to make more use of their own creativity! As usual they were able to choose their topic to work on, their research and drawing methods were developed with great effort. The main goal of the working process was to gain artistic possibilities through material experiments and valuable connections were made.
During the curfew it was remarkable to experience the flexibility of the students making effort to continue their drawing exercises, and due to the fact that students were being forced to stay indoors, the personal choice on the topic moved towards a more introspective direction. Strongly expressing a personal feeling and experience.
This was shown in the used working titles like: ‘Lone Journey’, ‘Underlying danger”, “Social Alienation" & “Lonely involvement” etc.
After the curfew it was rather contagious to experience the enthusiasm of the students when working together live in class again. The stimulating reflection on each others drawings and the working exercise.
It's great to see the enormous diversity in the outcome on the chosen topics. For me as a teacher to see the process of drawing the students are going through, the improvement they make along the way. Some of the students got so excited, that they even decided to choose a career in art and already made their planning accordingly.
I would herewith like to invite you to enjoy the outstanding and fantastic results of this great on-line exposition. I am sure that these works will trigger your imagination.
- Eric Hirdes, tutor Drawing
Mirthe den Held
Transience; 'Lasting for a short time / temporary'
The subject of my project is transience. Time makes beautiful flowers brown and young eyes wrinkled. The common thread in the pieces is the hands of the clock that seem to be everywhere. Normally, time is invisible. I tried to capture it. Nothing can escape the passing of time. However, there is beauty in impermanence.
In the blink of an eye, 2021, pen on paper
In a season, 2021, Acryl on paper
In a heartbeat, 2021, Acryl, watercolor, pen and charcoal on paper
Choi-Sim Nijhof
If you can’t recognize the life in on another, how can you recognize it in yourself?
Consciousness is the main theme of these works. The first work is about racism inspired by the murder of George Floyd. It shows the unconsciousness of people who think that there is a difference between you and me. Let the question sink in. The second work is about pollution of the city affecting nature. My last work shows how our thoughts sometimes make us crazy.
If you can’t recognize the life in on another, how can you recognize it in yourself?, 2021, soft & oil pastel + pencil
Dirt of the city, 2021, soft pastel
Crazy brain, 2021, oil&soft pastel + pencil
Hannah Bredero
We all seek our place in this world. We explore this universe to search and find our meaning of life. What does it mean to be a woman? What does it mean to hold power?
This series presents the intertwined relationship between power and the female body. Each posture expresses power in its own way, yet they all represent the strength that women have shown for centuries Underlying each of these three images, are the voices of women who have changed the ways in which women are positioned, and position themselves, in society today.
Mastering ourselves, 2021, Ink & Aquarel
Celeste Brouwers
Subway scenes
These drawings were made in the theme of everyday occurrences with a twist. It just so happened that of the ones made within this theme, the ones I liked the most all had something to do with a subway of sorts. For the one with the knight and the samurai, the idea was to place something from the past in an everyday modern setting. For the one in black and white I made last, I wanted to use the theme, without the ‘twist’ being a scene with an out of place object or character.
Subway knight, 2021 – acrylics
Subway samurai, 2021 – alcohol-based markers
Subway scene, 2021 – fineliner
Emma Klerk
As humanity has become more and more dependent on digital communication, the constant sharing and consumption of information is inevitable. But in our efforts to seek out that which is important to us, we risk being flushed away by the endless streams of data. Finding the right balance between two extremes, either being overwhelmed or complete withdrawal, seems to be impossible. Taking inspiration from several media exposure theories, this series of portraits explores the theme of information overload through several individuals who are affected by this phenomenon in their own way.
Drowning, 2021, pen on paper and digital editing
Vortex, 2021, pen on paper and digital editing
Drifting apart, 2021, pen on paper and digital editing
Dindin Zhang
A call for danger
Although one can try to avoid various risks in life, the world will always throw danger along one’s way. However, this doesn’t necessarily have to be something bad. Danger can thrill, amaze or even fascinate us. Some will even seek it out. I found that this kind of dichotomy between “the initial amazement” and “the hidden danger” is rather interesting. Thus, I tried to show that in these following works.
Delving, 2021, watercolor
Spores, 2021, watercolor’
Flood, 2021, watercolor
Doris Bukman
Our perception allows for depth and dimension, but things around us can feel so flat at times. Look around, really look. What things make our vision different from looking at a screen? If you had to transfer your sight to a piece of paper, what would it look like? 'Sometimes the earth is flat' is a series of drawings that explore perception as an immersive experience. The sights that we experience are summarized as two-dimensional screens. Layered as they are, they appear to be much more complex and multifaceted. Is this conceptualization accurate? That depends on how we see it.
Sometimes the earth is flat, 2021, pencil/pen on paper
Laura Akerboom
Spontinuity
Having selected Hope as overarching theme, Laura Akerboom began to experiment with making collages. Surprisingly, during the process of the course, she developed a strong affinity with the unexpected elements which arose during the process of making. It was this ever returning spontaneous element in particular that sparked her interest to shift from a symbolical theme towards a more formal study of shapes and materials. Following the cycle of producing, evaluating and adapting, she recognized a pattern in her work that can be summarized by the combination of two rather paradoxical terms: Spontaneity and Continuity.
Form Study No. 1: Contrast, 2021, marker on paper, 30 x 21 cm.
Form Study No. 5: Motion, 2021, marker, paper and acrylic paint on cardboard, 24 x 35 cm. Form Study No. 8: Texture, 2021, charcoal on paper, 50 x 65 cm.
Myrthe Willemsen
At the train station. You wait, watching the travellers passing by. Invisible strings pulling them, faceless, to a thousand destinations. You cannot identify. Uncomforted by the masks they wear, the distance they keep. And even more if they don’t. In cycles of unstructured chaos, movement converges: they, pillars, cast distorted shadows on the ground, which grow by the minute. Upon a whistle: they, crows, start crowding, swarming. A notion of estrangement falls upon you, distancing you from them, humans?
Until the train arrives.
Overshadowed, 2020, charcoal and pastel on paper, 25 x 27 cm
Masked in the modern, 2020, charcoal and crayon on cardboard, 65 x 70 cm
Waiting, 2020, charcoal, crayon and pastel on paper, 55 x 60 cm
Marisa Blonk
The Silent Pain Behind Neurologic Conditions
The inspiration for these two drawings was fueled by the intriguing stories of patients suffering from diverse neurologic conditions whom I get to work with during my internship at the LUMC. I have heard stories of patients describing the feeling of slowly losing their grip on their personalities, sensations, perceptions and autonomy. A frightening feeling of slowly losing themselves. Besides these very dark aspects of neurologic conditions, patients also describe feeling more thankful for everyday they live in health and striving to live everyday as bright and colorful as possible. With these two drawings I have attempted to visualize these unique stories.
Distorted perception, 2021, graphite, white ink and pastel on paper
Aura, 2021, pastel on paper
Katja Vajserman
The world tree is a motif from Indo-European, Siberian, and Native American cultures which connects the heavens, the earth, and the underworld. It connects life and death. The journey to this tree is different for everybody, and this causes loneliness. Loneliness is also the feeling of being alone in your thoughts. Your head is actually your whole universe, and you set the limits. Joseph Conrad also addressed this concept: “It is impossible to convey the life-sensation of any given epoch of one’s existence—that which makes its truth, its meaning—its subtle and penetrating essence. It is impossible. We live, as we dream—alone....”.
Lone journey, 2021, fineliner and marker on paper
Your head is your universe, 2021, fineliner and water colour on paper
The world tree, 2021, soft pastels on paper
Marie Chevalier
These drawings reflect the way some population groups felt lonely involved during the pandemic. When the urge to feel involved has not been fed, it is inevitable to feel lonely. Last year was filled with moments like these. People were left behind in times where they needed the most support. The blackened drawings present the numbered and fated students, the beloved 2020 newborns and the kids who will not reach their dreams while swimming their way in this world. The grey drawing presents the collusion between my mom and I, which has magnified, partly thanks to COVID.
isolated/collusion, 2021, charcoal, pastel and graphite
Charlotte van Straten
My subject for this semester was Bodydysmorphia. The first two works focus on how you can perceive yourself differently from how you are seen, they talk about self-loathing. The last painting is a bit different, it shows the euphoria of letting go of expectations and other people's opinions. It shows the strength in accepting that you can’t always change your situation and realizing that you can always change your perspective.
If only you could see me, 2021, Pastels on Black paper
Private Reality, 2021, Digitally edited pastels on paper
Letting go, 2021, Acrylics on canvas
Nuria Stikvoort
A city is wild like a hurricane. A city is crazy, busy, chaotic and a whirlwind of impressions. It removes all surrounding nature leaving only a concrete base. There are so many actors that seem to mismatch or contradict: humans, machines, modern, classical, poor and rich, and religions or cultures of any sort. But just like a hurricane, at its center, the city is wind still. There is a certain calmness in the way all pieces fall into place and connect, creating a cohesive whole that can only work because of all the different actors.
A Whirlwind, 2021, pencil on paper