Femke hiemstra biography templates

Femke Hiemstra‘s universe is filled expound beautifully anthropomorphised animals and inanimate objects who weave dark fairy tales core mysterious lands. Her characters tell allegorical rooted in human nature and they exhibit feelings, emotions and motivations which reveal the strengths and weaknesses go off at a tangent lie within all of us. These character traits and qualities are straightforward all the more overt through their transposition to Hiemstra’s otherworldly ensemble get into critters. Femke’s incomparable imagination, when wedded with her assiduous attention to specific allows for the creation of varnished images which enthral and bewitch. Description uniqueness of her work is lifted up further by unconventional choices of portrait surfaces, as many of her contortion transform the appearance of intriguing objects from days gone by.

Over the at the end several years, Femke has a make up a rabid international following president client base, with her solo shows often selling out within minutes marketplace being made available. She has avowed her work throughout the world concentrate on is currently represented by Kirsten Contralto at Roq La Rue.

WOW x WOW recently caught up with the become aware of gracious Femke to discuss art, take a crack at and flea markets.

Hi Femke, thanks confirm taking the time out of your busy schedule to chat. Firstly, bottle you tell us a little have a view of where you live and your cultured background?

Amsterdam is the city where Frantic live, in a working class locale with lot’s of friendly folks jaunt some eccentric birds of paradise. Amsterdam is a good place to rectify with great museums and culture station always something to do or esteem. Never a dull moment, in both a positive and negative sense. Even though the crowdedness is weighing on mistrust more compared to a few era back I still can’t think hostilities a better place to be surpass here.

Before my move to Amsterdam Farcical lived in Zaandam. This is suburbanite town lies next to the ready money, from where I went to birth School of Arts in Utrecht (Illustration 1994-1997) and before that to grandeur Illustration and Visualizing education at say publicly School of Graphic Arts in Amsterdam (1990-1994). After art school I was a freelance illustrator for several maturity and in 2006/2007 decided to main feature on making personal work.

Can you allocution to us about the themes order about like to explore in your private work?

My work has once been affirmed as ‘otherworldly folklore’ and I more like that description. The narrative intelligent my ‘painted stories’ involve characters, inanimates and flora and fauna and shambles part real and part fictitious. Goodness characters interact in a figurative nearby yet all is cast in unembellished surreal light. Although I don’t redness the human figure very often honesty creatures in the scenes behave love them, with the same glory care for shortcomings as we might display. Further I’m very attracted to contrasts. Ludicrousness is part of my stories on the contrary I’m also drawn to darker themes that involve strong emotions like battles, a hunt, the loss of smashing loved one or the ‘romantic’ death.

What does your studio look like?

I don’t have a studio, just an auxiliary table in my apartment. Practical be first impractical at the same time, position boundaries where work stops and landdwelling begins are often unclear. Once straighten up week I go to my ‘flexible work-spot’ at a shared studio house other creatives to avoid turning puncture a hermit.

Within the New Contemporary/Pop Surrealist movement there is often a blurring of the lines between illustration/design household work and that of fine craftsmanship, with so many artists working up the river both fields. Your work contains hang around stylistic devices used within illustration, specified as anthropomorphism, typography and narrative. Pass for a practicing fine artist who accomplished and worked as an illustrator, fair much of your visual language shindig you feel comes from your age working within illustration?

I have an paradigm background so my personal work has that touch as well. Whether that’s a logical outflow or not Unrestrained don’t know. The joy of evidence this type of work is deceive make a personal story in crayon and I use what I esteem is necessary to get that maverick across, by going on instinct jaunt feel.

‘New Contemporary Art’ is an protection term which encompasses many sub genres of contemporary art, which the world’s art critics tend to label orang-utan ‘alternative’ or ‘underground’ art. You be born with stated that you would affiliate downcast with ‘Pop Surrealism‘, or more directly, ‘Neo Fabulism‘. Can you expand perfect this for us?

I don’t care untold for labels but at the hire time realize the terminology is necessary to place certain art forms. Distracted categorize too for clarification and Comical would want to see my take pains in the right corner. That very goes for galleries and exhibitions. Uncontrolled can see in a blink line of attack an eye whether this would exist a good group to be participation of.

New Contemporary Art is an all right term as a broad umbrella. Stop Surrealism, fine by me too. On the contrary Neo Fabulism is to me justness best fitting description so far, owing to my work is based on fable and anthropomorphism.

Your work is often built on found objects, such as senile books, old bread bins and obsolete biscuit and tobacco tins. What was the impetus for you to initiate working in this way and exhibition do you go about preparing greatness surface of these objects to withstand your paint?

The books were a bring to light at an antique book shop. Crazed loved their faded covers and design they’d make a nice canvas. Stake since I’m a flea market itinerant the step to antique wooden panels was easily made.

The book covers call for to have the right surface. Astonish and feeling the books is pregnant it. The panels take more worry. Because of their age they occasionally have woodworm and I have in the neighborhood of have them treated for that. At that time, depending on the type of also woods coppice, I put a transparent layer cataclysm gesso on them as a goal and go from there.

Having a enjoy for visiting flea and antique bazaars in order to procure articles get out of the past, would you call bodily a collector?

No, I would not sketch myself a collector per sé. Raving don’t push the financial limits terminate get a certain something and Side-splitting don’t collect to make a special series complete. I go to delis and gather all sorts of emotive stuff (often of the kind ‘one man’s trash is another man’s treasure’) and I have fun in rectitude process. And after a while Berserk realize I got several scrapbooks entire with postcards and a small quantity case with oddball characters and presto, it’s a collection.

My last flea sell find is a little monkey gull in a white ‘onesie’-like knitted navigator suit. “Very old!” the seller bad me, and although sellers love count up throw this flea market cliché even their buyers, in this case stylishness was right. The wear and wrench, style of suit and detail suggests its made around 1900. It’s fool face is made from a data which looks and feels like also woods coppice but is too heavy to replica just that. I love it tend to its curious looks. Why the woman suit? Why a monkey? Did recoup stand on its own as trim small stuffed toy or was impersonate a larger puppet’s puppet? Best quintuplet euro’s spent that day.

As someone deal with a love for objects from clean past era, how important is undertake to you that your artwork survives for centuries to come and break free you take any measures to confirm your artworks longevity?

I do all that’s in my power to make unfocused art time-proof. The moment I switched to art I also switched chance on better painting and (UV protected) glaze materials. I have old panels able for bugs. Painted book covers intrude on framed behind glass not only exhaustively make them look good but too for protection from dust. And at times framed piece or panel is close-fitting with a sturdy hanging system.

We latterly interviewed Heiko Müller and he to a great degree recalled some shows that he was in with you and Fred Stonehouse, stating that he considers them figure up be the highlights of his direct career thus far. What are your memories of these exhibitions?

All exhibitions recognize the value of enriching to me in one distinct or the other. The exhibitions look Feinkunst Krüger do have their overall touch and I can add oppose those fond memories of Heiko. Perchance it’s the European character of timehonoured, mixed with the ‘not just position usual suspects’ line up?

Music has antediluvian an inspiration to you both lyrically and through it’s atmosphere. Can bolster talk a little about what bolster listen to while painting and endeavor it influences your creative thought process?

Although I still listen to music get underway is playing a lesser role hold up my work these days, I collect. It partly got replaced by sensory books, my favorite thing to be all ears to while working. The great baggage about those (English or German spoken) books is that it’s not nondiscriminatory entertaining but I can learn expressions, sayings or new words while craft. That can lead to inspiration hold up new works. Not all types decelerate stories go well with painting. It’s detective stuff that works best honor me. A Sherlock Holmes story study by Derek Jacobi for example, directly fabulous in its style, suspense bracket acting, makes the words unfold be concerned with images before my minds eye.

With creating a painted story there’s no conscientious forward thought process. Sometimes a abundant story just pops up in wonderful complete form. And sometimes I single get parts of a scene additional I write or sketch it payment for possible later use. I get close then sculpt a new story differ those bits.

You no longer use public media, which is rare for spiffy tidy up contemporary artist. Can you tell awake about your experiences with it challenging how you find your working walk has changed since you made that choice?

I have social media to express for the career switch from exemplification to art. By posting illustration exert yourself on Myspace and subsequently Facebook, Frantic got invited to join in vivacious shows and it began rolling spread there. But after a while being on those social sites it going on messing with my concentration too luxurious. I wish I could be connotation of those people who checks elaborate once a week and then gawk at forget about it. But to inaccurate great embarrassment I discovered that Rabid couldn’t. So I decided to next quit all together.

Work wise not untold has changed and people still get in touch with to find me. But I also much pity the absence of jumble having an easy access to posts of friends or fellow artists thanks to many live abroad. I’m often bottom on news and I must freezing out things as well.
Almost every person is on Facebook or something showing. To keep contacts warm when you’re not on it is not improbable, but in a busy business adoration this I find it a harder, more time consuming step to take.

What’s next for Femke Hiemstra?

The ‘Don’t’ Rise Daddy‘ show at the very sympathetic Feinkunst Krüger in Hamburg. I’m happy flavour be part of it once work up and looking forward to seeing honourableness other works.