The paintings of Mirjam Vreeswijk (b. Gorinchem, the Netherlands, 1997) contain a characteristic field of tension. They are beautiful and repulsive, dark and cheerful, grand and decorative at the same time. Intangible structures of natural phenomena such as waterfalls, lakes, lava flows and explosions are made tangible and ornamental as they take the form of roses or are held together by a bow. By doing so, she creates an atmosphere that is melancholic, uncanny and eerie and yet, wondrous and lovely.
Her intuitive or subconscious way of working gives the paintings a surrealistic feel. Different realities intertwine, and thus the work invites one's own interpretation. She creates the feeling of a fever dream, in which images and meanings merge. She plays with what is real or an illusion, what has depth or is actually flat. Her work shows a constant process of revealing and hiding. The recognizable and the strange, the manageable and the improbable constantly alternate. The intention is that the viewer loses his grip. The reward for letting go is desire, freedom, escapism, unlimited possibilities and a new reality.
Her work arises from collages, objects or images that appeal to her. For example, shiny ribbons, cardboard, fabrics and images from 80's decorative workbooks. From this archive of materials she intuitively builds compositions, first in maquettes, then on the canvas. Step by step, she looks at what the work needs in order to eventually achieve the perfect composition and structures of paint. Through this way of working, the work touches on elements of product photography, still life and landscape painting.