Reviews
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Maria
Kuiper's paintings are abstract expressionist in style, yet thematically
very much rooted in a tradition of art as a therapeutic and restorative
process. They are intuitively conceived, enabling her to uncover
layers of thoughts, ideas and imagery, drawn from a symbolic world
of self-inquiry. |
From Dali's surreal and disturbing psycho-sexual imagery to Frida Kahlo's depictions of suffering, Kuiper's is also concerned with unburdening herself and depicting her emotional landscape, but it is delivered in a much more minimal and modernist manner, and develops out of a materials led approach. There is a much more transformative element to how Kuiper's creates, connecting both materials and techniques, i.e. stitching, to her inner landscape and different emotions, as reflected in her mixed media approach. This mixed media approach along with stitching into the canvas, also invests in them the physicality of an iconic object, and invites us to 'feel' them, rather than decipher or interpret them on a more cerebral level. Their agenda could be likened to that of Joseph Beuys and Louise Bourgeois (her drawings in particular) but the aesthetic result recalls the paintings of Ben Nicholson, Antoni Tapies and Alberto Burri.
Whilst a lot of female artists would shy away from wanting to identify their work as defined by their gender, Kuiper's does the absolute opposite. She celebrates this as a fundamental touchstone at the centre of both why she creates and what she creates. With Tracey Emin, Eva Hesse and Dorothy Salcedo for company, Maria is certainly an artist of our time. These snapshots of a psyche that seeks reparation and resolution, whilst inviting us to do the same, represent a subtle and enquiring mind, full of adventure, and one ploughing a determined path through a time honoured tradition of art as a form of healing and psychological enquiry.
Olivia
Stevens - Freelance Art Critic and Curator
For more information e-mail - transbe@hotmail.com.
