APPEARANCE
We are currently in a dark time where no words can be found for the bitterness and darkness. How do we relate to what man is and does and how to nature, of which we are also a part.
With the exhibition Aanschijn the artists try to bring clarity, light, brightness into the darkness. The word Aanschijn also evokes a sense of change. What will man do regarding the world around him? Will he compete or change the perspective? What we see is only a snapshot, subject to evolution and transformation. A face can change in a second, influenced by circumstances, emotions and experiences. The world is constantly in motion and the perception of this is constantly shifting. Man must seek a new relationship with the earth. Find new ways to share consciousness with the flows of energy that we share with the earth, the animals, nature. We are all connected to each other. Nature exists within the social order; nature lives in us and around us and through us. Even long after we become stardust.
Monica Croese (1959) and Angelica Obino (1965) find the connection between wonder and the freedom of creation in their work.
What happens when we forget to connect with nature, when we can’t detach ourselves from our surroundings? Monica & Angelica want to offer an antidote to the alienation from ourselves and an increasingly unnatural world in the magical moments and enchantment of life. A world in which materialism is considered sacred, a world that is becoming increasingly virtual, in which craft work and life are being eliminated. The concept AANSCHIJN was deliberately chosen. It carries a poetic charge that goes deeper than the superficial aspect of something. It appeals to the senses and stimulates the imagination. It is not only about what something looks like, but also about how it feels, smells, and how it affects our inner being.
Monica shows what man can be; a shaman in contact with nature, but she also shows the deeply human being in all its facets. She has her own visual language and a unique aesthetic design. The images speak of hope, but also despair. Feelings that are often neglected and hidden away in this day and age, but that we cannot deny if we want to see the future brighter, with better mutual connections. More connectedness……
Angelica's sculptures come from a deep desire to connect with what we have lost through a craft process: innocence and calculation play a dance of diversity and destiny at the cutting edge. The intention is not to provoke, but to question the finding that underlies our strange ways of dealing with the natural course of things. To reestablish the relationship in the coming to APPEARANCE of authenticity and representation.
Both artists form a dystopian reality that finds holes in the darkness through the work where the light can shine. The artists invite you to look closely because in the literal sense, countenance refers to the face or expression of a person. The appearance; eyes, lips, the blush on the cheeks, but it also reflects inner emotions and thoughts that are outlined in the face. Rays of happiness, clouded by sadness or a glimpse of hope. It can also apply to objects, situations and landscapes. A peaceful landscape with soft undulations and calm water, a gloomy old ruin with ghostly shadows, dark clouds gathering or a radiant sun.
We hope that the exhibition Aanschijn touches, moves and perhaps provides new insights. Is there a deeper spiritual truth behind the surface of reality? Is this revealed when you look attentively, dare to look? To look at the meaning behind the appearance of the world around us.
Keep dreaming, keep hoping, we are all connected. People & nature.
July 2024
Monica Croese & Angelica Obino