Almost Painting

About the work of Danielle van Broekhoven During walks at home and abroad, Danielle constantly gives up impressions that could be painted. She photographs these or stores them in her memory. Once in the studio, the photos evoke images. Without preliminary studies or sketches, she starts an intuitive painting process. “I also put the photos I have taken aside, because I try to let go of everything I have seen and to trust my feelings. My "seeing" slowly pulls me through the painting process and creates entirely unique "landscapes". Sometimes recognizable, but often not. ” The strength of her works is based on the interaction between herself and the painting in the making. While experimenting with paint and other materials, memories come to mind, but the action in the studio, the dialogue between her and the works created at that moment, is always leading. Painting in this phase is very intuitive, active and physical. During the painting in layers, the canvas is alternately laid down and placed upright. Large pools of acrylic paint are poured over oil paint. Parts are (again) polished away, other parts are highlighted and extra emphasized by a new layer of paint. “The colors I choose at that moment know more than I do! It is very much about feeling at this stage. Thinking back to the images that I have saved, I see movements, surfaces and light-dark divisions. ” In the striking, powerful gestures with which she applies the paint, there is a certain audacity in handwriting and brushstrokes, a determination in choosing and treating her materials. Without being fully aware of it, she brings those characteristics together in paintings that ultimately always "burst with energy and harmony."