|
Janna van Hasselt
Pic 'n' Mix, 26 May - 6 June 2010
Preview: Tuesday 25 June, 6-8pm |
 |
|
Janna van Hasselt’s work documents her travels and experiences, with constant references to place, routine and comfort. Printing and painting on unconventional materials, she delights in the unique variety of tones and intensities she can achieve on each of her substrates. Gestural printed marks are combined with more ‘realistic’ figurative painted elements to create vibrant accounts of her personal narratives and fixations.
|
 |
|
Van Hasselt has spent the past 3 months sewing her way through an unusually harsh Dutch winter. Last July she began a colossal project: a giant soft sculptural bowl of muesli in 30:1 scale. As she progressed, van Hasselt’s pile of ‘couching’ steadily grew and there were times when the off-cuts began to interest her more than the items she was sewing. Pic ‘n’ Mix is loosely tied together by imagery of this remnant fabric and thread.
|
 |
|
The Nappers series was made during a residency at the Centrum Frans Masereel in Belgium, where van Hasselt was able to investigate the unpredictable process of lithographic printing on leather. These pieces subvert the customary rectangular picture plane with unruly edges which echo their winding and entangled subject matter.
|
 |
|
All other pieces were printed in Amsterdam at the Amsterdams Grafisch Atelier. Linen, vinyl and silk, chosen for their varied surface qualities, are the substrates for three large works, each of which documents a fleeting state; an explosion of form, colour and texture. There is a feeling of frenetic activity and disarray within each composition; items fly, float and snake around each other amidst more concrete and recognisable elements.
|
 |
|
Four smaller canvasses have large areas of exposed herringbone ground to offset tonal washes of colour and electric linear sketching. As van Hasselt anticipates her return to New Zealand, these works also act as mementos of parts of her home environment that will soon be broken down and left behind. |
 |
read more about Janna van Hasselt...
|
|
Special thanks to Invivo Wines |