Nina van de Lest
My personal project was inspired by my internship at the geriatrics department in the hospital. I am a medical student and started my clinical rotations around the same time as the Practicum Artium course. I was impressed by what I observed during my time at this department. The ways of medicine are different when dealing with these old patients. There is more attention for comfort and the patient’s wishes for the last phase of life. In this project, I wanted to reflect the fragility of the patients and the hope that medical care can give us, especially in these times when so many more need it. On the other hand, I wanted to show that sometimes it is time to do nothing.
Thinning skin, 2020, acrylic on paper, 50 x 32 cm
Succession, 2020, acrylic on paper, 50 x 32 cm
When we all fall asleep, where do we go? 2020, acrylic on paper, 50 x 65 cm
Mattie Nelson
In my paintings I enjoy playing with abstraction and realism. In my final piece Evolution I formed faces and starfish that emerge from atoms and diatoms as they fall through space. I wanted to create a dystopian space with an illogical sense of gravity and time. Here evolution happens before your eyes and these small masses fall towards the sky. The rest of my works from the semester consist of abstracts, landscapes and self-portraits where I have tried to be considerate of the colour, realism and depth and how this effects the subjects and mood of each piece.
Evolution, 2020, acrylic on wood, 50 x 60cm
Views from freedom, 2020, acrylic on paper, 14.8 x 21.0 cm
Views from Quarantine, 2020, acrylic on paper, 14.8 x 21.0 cm
Elephant rocks, Denmark, WA, 2020, acrylic on paper, 29.7 x 42.0 cm
Self portrait 1, 2020, acrylic on paper, 29.0 x 37 cm
Self portrait 2, 2020, acrylic on paper, 29.7 x 42.0 cm
Dance, 2020, acrylic on paper, 50.0 x 64.0 cm
Care for a Wiggle? 2020, acrylic on paper, 50.0 x 64.0 cm
Zuzu Smugala
In this series I was mainly inspired by the surrounding Covid-19 outbreak and it’s affect on the individual. In most of my pieces there is either an individual person in solitude, a deserted location, or in the last scene the struggle that families have had to make during this time. As my main study is Psychology, I decided to focus on the affects of isolation on the mind. As a representation of this I chose to show the somber scenes as a result of the depression and anxiety resulting from the forced isolation.
Graffiti, 2020, acrylic on canvas, 90 x 60 cm
Street, 2020, acrylic on canvas, 60 x 80 cm
Reading, 2020, acrylic on canvas, 50 x 35 cm
Rain, 2020, acrylic on canvas, 50 x 35 cm
Empty Pool, 2020, acrylic on canvas, 50 x 35 cm
Apple Eater, 2020, acrylic on canvas, 50 x 35 cm
The Beach, 2020, acrylic on canvas, 50 x 35 cm
Separated, 2020, acrylic on canvas, 50 x 35 cm
Anna Pabērza
Observing the human world, social relations an behavioural patterns are an inseperable part of anthropology. Semi-detached is a series of visual fieldnotes created during the global pandemic where people are forced by the outside world to spend their time inside their private spaces more than ever. Each work portrays an observation that fits into a general pattern observed and interpreted by the artist – anthropologist. Red wine, screen time, sad mind – as parts of quarantine.
Sad Mind, 2020, acrylic on paper, 38 x 54 cm
Red Wine, 2020, acrylic on canvas, 42 x 54 cm
Screen Time, 2020, acrylic on canvas, 42 x 54 cm
The Exhibition
A painting is constructed slowly, stroke by stroke. If you look closely at the paintings in this exhibition, they will put you into direct contact with the hands, eyes and minds of nine young students from Leiden University. Halfway the course their classes suddenly moved online and the students often travelled back to where they came from. But they all kept painting! In Leiden, but now also in the UK, Hungary, the USA and even Australia. Their paintings in this exhibition are partly studies, and partly their own individually developed painting projects. The projects combine the newly learnt skills both with their primary studies at Leiden University, as with their personal ideas, feelings and experiences. They offer us nine very different views on our rapidly changing world.
Tanja Smit, Artist & Teacher
Nienke Ijspeert
In the Face of Alteration is a series about the change that is happening in nature and the city landscape. I am a Biology student and I am deeply concerned for our future, nature is disappearing and the city is thriving because of it. In these paintings I have contrasted nature and the city. The fox depicts the shyness and fragility of nature. The human depicts the urbanity and the obstinacy of the city. The city is polluting and corrupting nature, as a result we are corrupting our future in the city. Nature tries to fight back, grow and survive in the city. Without nature we are nothing.
Face of nature, 2020, acrylic paint on paper, 50 x 65 cm
Perspective of nature, 2020, acrylic paint on paper, 50 x 65 cm
Perspective of the city, 2020, acrylic paint on paper, 50 x 65 cm
Face of the city, 2020, acrylic paint on paper, 50 x 65 cm
Mirthe den Held
My name is Mirthe, I am 18 years old and I study Philosophy. For the main project, I was inspired by the sentence: don’t look through others' eyes at yourself. I made a self-portrait. The subject looks in the mirror and is not only seen by her own eyes but by many other eyes that she projects on herself. The other eyes measure her by other values. But a person is not what he or she is perceived to be by others. If you look at yourself with your own eyes, you can create your own values.
Other eyes, 2020, acrylic on paper, 42 x 29,7 cm
Little brother, 2020, acrylic on paper, 22 x 14 cm
Vase, 2020, acrylic on paper, A3
Pearl, 2020, acrylic on paper, A3
Kim Engels
My main study is Life Science & Technology, the functioning of cells and the body is a big part of this. Creativity reduces stress and anxiety. Endorphins have an analgesic effect and create a feeling of happiness. Serotonin contributes to confidence and satisfaction. Dopamine is released when we try to achieve our goals. All these neurotransmitters are released when we use our creativity. The painting shows the movement of these neurotransmitters.
Making art is valuable for everyone. There is no right or wrong way to be creative. When we create, it gives us the opportunity to do and make what we want without being judged or doing anything wrong. Enjoy the possibility to outline borders and delineate horizons. Feel free in another dimension.
Neurotransmitters, 2020, acrylic on canvas, 48x61 cm
Weird City, 2020, acrylic on paper, 30x40 cm
Chaos, 2020, acrylic on paper, 50x60 cm
Glass Still Life, 2020,acrylic on paper, 30x40 cm
Floating, 2020, acrylic on paper, 50 x 60 cm
Reflections, 2020, acrylic on paper, 30x40 cm
Portrait, 2020, acrylic on paper, 30x40 cm
Linda Kersseboom
I am a Master's student in Health and Medical Psychology at the University of Leiden. In my final project The New Normal I took inspiration from the changes that our modern society has been through as a result of the global COVID-19 crisis. A distant and alienating landscape describes the way human kind is connected in this situation. The cubes depict our personal spaces that are now forced to be disconnected, yet remain transparent through the use of (social) media. The distance becomes more vivid through the two canvasses, which are hanging 30 cm apart to provide a total width of 1.5 meters - a wink to the current distance rules in the Netherlands.
The New Normal, 2020, acrylic on canvas, 80 x 60 cm
Fog, 2020, acrylic on paper, 50 x 65 cm
The World Within, 2020, acrylic on paper, 70 x 50 cm
Showers, 2020, acrylic on paper, 65 x 50 cm
Hello Woman, 2020, acrylic on paper, 65 x 50 cm
Denaturalisation, 2020, acrylic on paper, 50 x 65 cm
What Do You Want, 2020, acrylic on paper, 65 x 50 cm
Parallel Realities, 2020, acrylic on paper, 50 x 65 cm
Liza Klimova
Inspired by the notion of a world constructed through human conventions, investigated in my primary studies (Arts, Media, and Society), the following paintings explore and respond to the world that is around us. Taking the idea of the constructed world, the artworks, Symbiosis and Merged Together, re-construct what the world can look like if seen from a different perspective. By re-imagining the world around us, the artworks combine human and nature elements to convey a vision where two are one and the same. Upside-Down and Dreaming are surrealistic studies that explore the realm of dreams. Meanwhile, Left Behind, Dazed, Systematic Happiness, and Inward Movement are studies exploring colours, form, and general theme.
Symbiosis, 2020, oil on canvas, 100 x 70 cm
Merged Together, 2020, acrylics on paper, 50 x 40 cm
Upside-Down, 2020, acrylics on paper, 40 x 30 cm
Dreaming, 2020, acrylics on paper, 40 x 30 cm
Left Behind, 2020, acrylics on paper, 40 x 50 cm
Dazed, 2020, acrylics on paper, 70 x 50 cm
Systematic Happiness, 2020, acrylics on paper, 50 x 70 cm
Inward Movement, 2020, acrylics on paper, 70 x 50 cm
