The birth of a bird

For many years I saw myself as a nest. Like a bird’s nest – Holding the promise of new life very carefully and tightly. A (be)holder of possibilities. You don’t wanna mess this up, so I hold and hold, held and held. Until suddenly, I could not hold any longer. I did not want to carry the eggs no more. Then, in a flash of a moment the whole scene changed. I saw myself being born as a red bird. Stretching my bird’s neck with its sticky feathers towards the sky. I took a breath of air and let out a little screech - as baby birds do. And all the sticks that made up the nest that I was myself, flew away. Fast like shooting bullets, leaving my ankle, dissolving into nothingness. (Lotte Wieringa)

Lotte Wieringa (* 1991 in Nijmegen) is part of a young, up-and-coming generation of painters from the Netherlands. In her works, the artist explores the relationship between her inner world and the external influences. In doing so, she incorporates her subjective perspective, as she allows herself to be intuitively guided in the painting process. The energetic and rhythmic structures on the canvas are created with the greatest possible openness and staying true to what the flow of creation gives. The results are captivating paintings that are often reminiscent of dreamlike appearances that explore the limits of perception and recognition.

Wieringa works with a variety of materials, some of which she uses experimentally. She applies ultramarine blue oil paint in such a way that it looks like coarse ballpoint strokes. To do this, the artist developed her own printing technique, in which she applies the paint in an indirect way to the canvas. These rhythmic scratchy lines, sometimes many and at other times only a few, lay the groundwork of each painting. They set the mood for the rest of the work.

New works from the current work cycle under warm wings, round eggs have been created especially for the exhibition. In it, Wieringa explores the theme of house and home and the associated feelings of safety, warmth and security. Shades of red represent the warm feeling of home and tenderness on the one hand and the colour of threat on the other. The tension created is released in form of an emphatically gestural application of paint on the canvas.

»The exhibition Under warm wings round eggs explores the dynamic between love and the brutality of life. The bloodshed and the destruction, the joy and the sorrows. The warmth of touch, skin on skin – yours against mine. About being safe, about house and home. And how feeling safe in your home can change you into something you did not know before.«
Lotte Wieringa