An eye is enough to create a presence.
After my phase of analytical, more abstract and conceptual feminism, I began to paint.
In this video, I talk about my transition from videos and installations to painting, as well as the art and ideas that inspire the paintings.
Presence means being seen, acknowledged, and taken into account. But when someone is overlooked—whether because they lack presence, are seen as an object, or reduced to a symbol—they become invisible.
The Presences series emerged as I began to explore femininity and sought to paint the elements that define it. Yet, finding no singular definition, the paintings became semi-abstract fragments of colour and diffuse emotions.
This marks the almost abstract starting point of a journey toward figuration in later works, as I continue to investigate stereotypes of femininity.
Visually, the paintings bear some resemblance to collage—partly because I combine ideas in search of something concrete related to femininity, and partly due to the deep influence of Hannah Höch’s collages. Seeing her retrospective reconnected me with my own past collage work.
See more paintings.