IEN DOBBELAAR
PUSHING THE BOUNDARIES OF ART
By Nathalie Jones
Ien Dobbelaar is a Dutch artist who really pushes the boundaries with her work, as anyone who caught her exhibition at Mojácar Pueblo’s Centro de Arte at the end of last year will have appreciated. Here Ien talks to Levante Lifestyle about the offbeat themes to her work and the influences on her creativity.
1. How would you broadly define yourself as an artist and your work: does it ‘neatly’ fit into a particular artistic genre?
I don’t think so, but, you know, most of the times it’s other people who put you in a certain “box”.
I never thought of my work as “fitting in a genre”. To me, it is not important, it would maybe limit me. It’s nice that you can walk on certain side-ways as an artist, to discover and explore and then take experiences from there back to your ‘main” work…
Another reason is the different materials/ media I use: it’s hard to compare them….
2. What are the main influences on your creative thought processes?
Influences on my creative process come from my daily life; the things I see, landscapes around me and sometimes my own life. My work is most of the time about people, their “luggage” and time. Since the last 5 years the elderly people play a big role in my work. Their pureness, strength, but also fragility interests me.
I am always looking for contrasts in my work (young/old, life/death, strong/fragile).
Sometimes influence/inspiration comes from a different direction. Last year, for example, I started a project with 4 Dutch writers and 3 other artists. We made work based on poems and writings. The project ended with an exhibition of installations and photographs and performances of the writers involved. I worked on this project for a whole year and also had a book made of the whole process.
3. Your “Boundaries” collection centres on the humble tank top as a subject. What inspired you to take this unusual subject as a theme for a collection, and what other kind of themes have you explored artistically?
It’s always difficult to “explain” your work and talk about why you use a certain metaphor, but I will try..
Using the camisole is using the undergarment as a house of the body. I want to imagine the vulnerability and fragility of people. Not of a person in particular but of people in general. The camisole is the first “layer” on the body and by using this as a metaphor I tell the story of the (a) man/woman behind it. I always like to talk “indirect” and let the viewer feel instead of look .
The use of tank tops started in Spain, during my stay in Valparaiso! Since then I could not let go of this metaphor and throughout the years the tanktop appeared in my work, in all kinds of forms.
I even collected tanktops from old ladies who passed away. A couple of years ago I used them in an installation.
With the “Boundaries” collection I refer to the inclination of people to veil the inner with externalities and emphasize that it is possible to step out of the coating and make oneself visible.
Power and simplicity are very important to me. I like to move on the boundaries of recognizable and unrecognizable.
Also the space plays an ambiguous role in these paintings. I placed the camisoles in solitary isolation on the canvas - limited - but their outlines exceed into the surroundings. Also the factor of time is ambiguous. On the one hand, a short-lived moment seems to be caught as in a moving photograph, on the other hand the reference to the inner self makes the picture universal and timeless.
Spain is also a subject in my work. I made a number of landscape paintings, these were inspired by the landscape I saw when travelling in Andalucia.
The photoseries “flamenco” were shown for the first time last year in the Centro de Arte in Mojácar. Here I tried to capture the flamenco dance in a limited way: it’s about movement, time and beauty.
In my threedimensional work I am looking for the same fragility. I work with different materials, such as plaster, steel, fabric. It ranges from small sculptures to installations.
The last years I make short video’s. If you can speak of “themes”, the last few years old people are subject in my work, and – as always – the contradiction. It’s about solitude, fragility, strength, beauty of a long life and on the other hand the difficulty of letting go of life.
In the last exhibition in Mojacar Art Centre f.i. I showed my video “Juan”.
I filmed Juan in 2005 in a little village in Spain. He was the eldest inhabitant of the village, old and almost blind. The doctor told him to go for a walk every day.
Although it was 40 degrees in the summer I filmed him and he could hardly walk, he persisted in doing so. For me he was fragile, he was in his own “slow” world. The music in the from a young boys choir singing prayers. By combining the music and the film I had the contradiction I was looking for: an old man, fragile, walking towards his own death. (The boys almost sound like angels). On the other hand, as you hear the young boys sing, you can imagine that he maybe thought of his own youth, when he was a young boy. A whole life is shown in only 7 minutes. That’s how fragile life is, how short our stay on this earth…
4. What kind of mediums do you enjoy working in?
I enjoy working with all kinds of mediums.. I graduated in threedimensional work, but painting was our main subject throughout the whole study.
I always try to think of which medium fits best with the feelings I want to express. Sometimes it’s a painting, the other moment the idea asks for a different kind of medium.
5. What is the current focus of your work?
In this period I am focussing on video and photography. I like to use my camera in a direct way, so I don’t use photoshop or other tools to “smoothen” the pictures. Therefore you sometimes see the cuts I made in a video, moving of the camera, etc. The latest series is the “flamenco” series. I wanted to make pictures from dancers without showing the persons. By taking pictures of the skirts and feet I exactly got what I wanted: the essence of dancing: movement captured in a second.
6. You are based in the Netherlands, but are a regular visitor to this area. How did you discover this area of Spain?
In 2001 I was the lucky one who was invited by Fundación Valparaiso. I had no idea what to expect, from the environment ,nor from the Fundación.
It was perfect in every aspect. Although I did not go very many times into the village, I immediately fell in love with Mojácar.
Five years later I decided to go back, rent an apartment and work there. In this period I met Tom and Peter, two persons who live in the village for a long time and who I can call my friends now. They introduced me to a lot of people and since then the Mojácar refused to leave my mind.. I visit Mojácar two times a year and it really feels like homenow. Last year I was invited by a colleague artist and friend, David Bonham to exhibit in the Centro de Arte. A lot of works shown there were inspired by Spain and therefore it was very special to me to show themin Spain.
7. The Levante has traditionally attracted artists of all kinds. Many cite this area’s special light as a great source of inspiration for their work. Do you find the Levante artistically inspiring?
I never thought about the light aspect, but maybe it plays a role in a different way: I was born in Zeeland, the southern part of Holland, where in the old days (and still now..) a lot of painters came for the beautiful light and the Dutch clouds. So, in a way, maybe I am attracted to the light without even knowing it, or it gives me a comfortable feeling….
But, as a whole, being in Spain inspires me a lot. I am attracted to the way of living, the people, the language, the food, the music, in short, it gives me a feeling of being me and that is the best starting point you can have as an artist.
8. You have exhibited your work all over the world. Do you have any plans to stage an exhibition in the Levante in the future?
Of course it always depends on invitations, but I will sure exhibit again if I’m allowed. It is really special to exhibit your work in the country where you got your inspiration.
PUSHING THE BOUNDARIES OF ART
By Nathalie Jones
Ien Dobbelaar is a Dutch artist who really pushes the boundaries with her work, as anyone who caught her exhibition at Mojácar Pueblo’s Centro de Arte at the end of last year will have appreciated. Here Ien talks to Levante Lifestyle about the offbeat themes to her work and the influences on her creativity.
1. How would you broadly define yourself as an artist and your work: does it ‘neatly’ fit into a particular artistic genre?
I don’t think so, but, you know, most of the times it’s other people who put you in a certain “box”.
I never thought of my work as “fitting in a genre”. To me, it is not important, it would maybe limit me. It’s nice that you can walk on certain side-ways as an artist, to discover and explore and then take experiences from there back to your ‘main” work…
Another reason is the different materials/ media I use: it’s hard to compare them….
2. What are the main influences on your creative thought processes?
Influences on my creative process come from my daily life; the things I see, landscapes around me and sometimes my own life. My work is most of the time about people, their “luggage” and time. Since the last 5 years the elderly people play a big role in my work. Their pureness, strength, but also fragility interests me.
I am always looking for contrasts in my work (young/old, life/death, strong/fragile).
Sometimes influence/inspiration comes from a different direction. Last year, for example, I started a project with 4 Dutch writers and 3 other artists. We made work based on poems and writings. The project ended with an exhibition of installations and photographs and performances of the writers involved. I worked on this project for a whole year and also had a book made of the whole process.
3. Your “Boundaries” collection centres on the humble tank top as a subject. What inspired you to take this unusual subject as a theme for a collection, and what other kind of themes have you explored artistically?
It’s always difficult to “explain” your work and talk about why you use a certain metaphor, but I will try..
Using the camisole is using the undergarment as a house of the body. I want to imagine the vulnerability and fragility of people. Not of a person in particular but of people in general. The camisole is the first “layer” on the body and by using this as a metaphor I tell the story of the (a) man/woman behind it. I always like to talk “indirect” and let the viewer feel instead of look .
The use of tank tops started in Spain, during my stay in Valparaiso! Since then I could not let go of this metaphor and throughout the years the tanktop appeared in my work, in all kinds of forms.
I even collected tanktops from old ladies who passed away. A couple of years ago I used them in an installation.
With the “Boundaries” collection I refer to the inclination of people to veil the inner with externalities and emphasize that it is possible to step out of the coating and make oneself visible.
Power and simplicity are very important to me. I like to move on the boundaries of recognizable and unrecognizable.
Also the space plays an ambiguous role in these paintings. I placed the camisoles in solitary isolation on the canvas - limited - but their outlines exceed into the surroundings. Also the factor of time is ambiguous. On the one hand, a short-lived moment seems to be caught as in a moving photograph, on the other hand the reference to the inner self makes the picture universal and timeless.
Spain is also a subject in my work. I made a number of landscape paintings, these were inspired by the landscape I saw when travelling in Andalucia.
The photoseries “flamenco” were shown for the first time last year in the Centro de Arte in Mojácar. Here I tried to capture the flamenco dance in a limited way: it’s about movement, time and beauty.
In my threedimensional work I am looking for the same fragility. I work with different materials, such as plaster, steel, fabric. It ranges from small sculptures to installations.
The last years I make short video’s. If you can speak of “themes”, the last few years old people are subject in my work, and – as always – the contradiction. It’s about solitude, fragility, strength, beauty of a long life and on the other hand the difficulty of letting go of life.
In the last exhibition in Mojacar Art Centre f.i. I showed my video “Juan”.
I filmed Juan in 2005 in a little village in Spain. He was the eldest inhabitant of the village, old and almost blind. The doctor told him to go for a walk every day.
Although it was 40 degrees in the summer I filmed him and he could hardly walk, he persisted in doing so. For me he was fragile, he was in his own “slow” world. The music in the from a young boys choir singing prayers. By combining the music and the film I had the contradiction I was looking for: an old man, fragile, walking towards his own death. (The boys almost sound like angels). On the other hand, as you hear the young boys sing, you can imagine that he maybe thought of his own youth, when he was a young boy. A whole life is shown in only 7 minutes. That’s how fragile life is, how short our stay on this earth…
4. What kind of mediums do you enjoy working in?
I enjoy working with all kinds of mediums.. I graduated in threedimensional work, but painting was our main subject throughout the whole study.
I always try to think of which medium fits best with the feelings I want to express. Sometimes it’s a painting, the other moment the idea asks for a different kind of medium.
5. What is the current focus of your work?
In this period I am focussing on video and photography. I like to use my camera in a direct way, so I don’t use photoshop or other tools to “smoothen” the pictures. Therefore you sometimes see the cuts I made in a video, moving of the camera, etc. The latest series is the “flamenco” series. I wanted to make pictures from dancers without showing the persons. By taking pictures of the skirts and feet I exactly got what I wanted: the essence of dancing: movement captured in a second.
6. You are based in the Netherlands, but are a regular visitor to this area. How did you discover this area of Spain?
In 2001 I was the lucky one who was invited by Fundación Valparaiso. I had no idea what to expect, from the environment ,nor from the Fundación.
It was perfect in every aspect. Although I did not go very many times into the village, I immediately fell in love with Mojácar.
Five years later I decided to go back, rent an apartment and work there. In this period I met Tom and Peter, two persons who live in the village for a long time and who I can call my friends now. They introduced me to a lot of people and since then the Mojácar refused to leave my mind.. I visit Mojácar two times a year and it really feels like homenow. Last year I was invited by a colleague artist and friend, David Bonham to exhibit in the Centro de Arte. A lot of works shown there were inspired by Spain and therefore it was very special to me to show themin Spain.
7. The Levante has traditionally attracted artists of all kinds. Many cite this area’s special light as a great source of inspiration for their work. Do you find the Levante artistically inspiring?
I never thought about the light aspect, but maybe it plays a role in a different way: I was born in Zeeland, the southern part of Holland, where in the old days (and still now..) a lot of painters came for the beautiful light and the Dutch clouds. So, in a way, maybe I am attracted to the light without even knowing it, or it gives me a comfortable feeling….
But, as a whole, being in Spain inspires me a lot. I am attracted to the way of living, the people, the language, the food, the music, in short, it gives me a feeling of being me and that is the best starting point you can have as an artist.
8. You have exhibited your work all over the world. Do you have any plans to stage an exhibition in the Levante in the future?
Of course it always depends on invitations, but I will sure exhibit again if I’m allowed. It is really special to exhibit your work in the country where you got your inspiration.
