this art matters

Abtauchen in Welten

noreply@blogger.com (Elena Doelma Holzheu) — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 12:38:00 +0000

«Abtauchen in Welten» means «plunging in worlds» and deals with the confrontation of political issues gaining visibility in this hightly digitalized world. The gumboots stand for the vulnerability of children, the caviar symbolises luxury and might, the blood for all the blod being shed in fights for resources (food, water, commodities) and finally the arm fighting with white glove stands for the struggle of the black community struggling for equality.

Last but not least the pasted elements (pieces of paper) stand for the pasting and mashing-up of news that each one of us is involuntarily involved in each day. How do we prioritize news and issues? What is important in our own lives? We fabricate our own reality, blank out certain information or numb ourselves in order not to become overwhelmed.

However much we succeed in blocking out or mashing up, what remains is the stark and often cruel juxtaposition of issues turning one or the other into a parody at times. I tried to convey exactly this element of parody or slapstick like quality.

Hoffnungsträger

noreply@blogger.com (Elena Doelma Holzheu) — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 09:20:00 +0000

For no particular reason, I've been searching for images of fetuses lately. While they look great in photographs they must be impossible to paint. I tried it once but only got it to work when turning the thing into an installation («Embrio»). In this collage a girl is kneeling down to explore something innocently. As we grow out of our innocent baby-years we - consciously or unconsciously - take on genderconcepts of our family and people we might admire at the time and turn into our rolemodels. We work on our appearance, our character etc.

With this collage I wanted to express the danger of «losing oneself» in the process. While men may lose themselves in a macho role, women tend to give up their femininity when pursuing a career. Thus the question: «Noch alle weiblich?»

However that juxtaposition might also just be an overpolarization of the male - femal spectrum. I guess I just want to make people take a good hard look and decide for themselves whether they are truly realizing their potential or merely striving to be someone else.

Die Vorahnung - Einsame unter sich

noreply@blogger.com (Elena Doelma Holzheu) — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 15:04:00 +0000

Time and time again, I sit down, cut out clippings from newspapers and magazines, rearanging and gluing the sniplets together until - I find before me another piece of my past or current situation on a flat piece of paper. Sometimes it takes me three years to realize that what I have unconsciously put together is the perfect mirror of a particular situation or an image of a psychological constellation.

I found «Die Vorahnung- Einsame unter sich» to deal with me and my father. An accomplished man in the foreground and a somewhat extravagant newcomer in the background. Both are or will soon be successful in what they do, yet their success comes at the price of a certain solitude.

Scary somehow, how the unconscious keeps kreeping up at times, shouting almost: «Do you read me?»

Yoke

noreply@blogger.com (Elena Doelma Holzheu) — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 10:32:00 +0000

I've been obsessing about Barbie since my 20th birthday. Some say Barbies are old. In my opinion they offer a lot of room for interpretation. I like mixing parts of Barbiedolls with food.

Main inspiration here: Hans Bellmer

Don't crowd shelves, linens need air

noreply@blogger.com (Elena Doelma Holzheu) — Sat, 17 Nov 2007 12:15:00 +0000

Another piece of the small Polaroid series is this one. I rarely came across snippets of photographs this inspiring. I love the freedom the figure to the left expresses. She stands in contrast to the neatly folded sheets and the piece of advice "Don't crowd shelves: linens need air".

thank God it's you mom

noreply@blogger.com (Elena Doelma Holzheu) — Sat, 17 Nov 2007 12:08:00 +0000

While studying in the U.S. a lot of my art dealt with my relationship to both my parents. In this piece I tried to depict a mothers' natural tendency to overwhelm her child. The child responds by saying: "Thank God it's you mom", meaning that it probably would not put up with the same kind of pressure put on it by any other person it relates to. I meant to show that being close to someone you dearly love involves not only accepting their weaknesses but turning them into a trait you cherish.

champion international

noreply@blogger.com (Elena Doelma Holzheu) — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 13:48:00 +0000

«champion international» was a gift to my mother.

There is a girl in a swimsuit on whose pants we see «champion international». On her belly we find the drawing of yet another girl, holding on to the hand of its mother. It seems as if both mother and child were standing in a waterlike element. Where to the girl, the element is up to her chest, it barely reaches the mothers’ knees, implying a disparity in the ability to cope. The writing «you break someone's heart, somebody breaks yours, happens every day» strengthens the disparity. It might be a piece of advice a mother gives to her heartbroken child.

I don’t know why I chose James Bond in a suit but I had great fun distorting him with a mustache. I guess I am trying to express a girlish fear of this icon “male” and the need to downplay it by mocking it. Seeing the mustache as a symbol for the girls’ pubic hair would probably be a little far far-fetched albeit the subject of neatly combed and tailored pubic-moustaches would make for a great photograph series.

The figure standing by and watching works as the fatherly onlooker, watching his daughter grow up.

An die Mimosen

noreply@blogger.com (Elena Doelma Holzheu) — Fri, 09 Nov 2007 16:13:00 +0000

Right. I decided to critique and interpret my work here and there.

So here's a collage from last year. It is a fascinatingly complex image playing mainly with the viewpoint-element. The image is hard to make sense of. Our eyes are drawn to the installation in the background where a Buddha figure is being filmed and the image is played back at it live. My first reaction was: „What?“ I was confused.
In order to get a grip on this, let’s analyze those three elements first (correct me if I err):
- the Buddha stands for serenity and non-self.
- the camera symbolizes the obserer in as far as it is guided or put in place by a human being, able to observe. Humans (for the most part) have a sense of self („I“) as supposed to „you“ or „other“ yet some of us wish to reach a state of Buddha or non-self.
- the tv set is displaying what the camera feeds it, i.e. what the observing human behind that camera choses to record. If this is a live feed situation, there is somewhat less control on the observer’s side.
The crude juxtaposition of Buddha and TV-set plays on the different notions of
a) the term „being“ (einai [Greek to be] vs ousia [Greek essence]),
b) between ontological materialism (all phenomena including thoughts and ideas) can be ascribed to matter and ontological idealism (matter as well as any human action is merely an effigy of ideas) as well as
c) between ontological realism (the world exists even if there is noone observing it) and solipsism (the external world are contens of conciousness without a proper existence.

Questions that result are:
- is the Buddha (and all other phenomena) real, because we are observing him?
- would it be real even if there was noone to observe him?
- if there was noone to obserbe the Buddha, would the assertion „the Buddha exists“ be true or false?

Now that we discussed the background of the image, lets turn to the foreground.
A man is holding up a poster challenging Mr. Bushs presidency. In connection with the scene in the background, he seems to be in the wrong place. Questions that result are: is the protestors presence adequate? Are the contents of his poster adequate? Does adequacy allow conclusions to validity? Therefore, is the protest of this man valid?

There is yet another element that gives room for interpretation: the writing. „Jagdwechsel“ is a combination of two words: Jagt (German. chase) and Wechsel (German change), implying the turnaround of a situation where A is chasing B. B is now chasing A.
„An die Mimosen“ is complex too. Mimose (German. mimosa) is a term used for a person who is overly sensitive. So the term „an die Mimosen“ stands for attacking people who are overly sensitive. Questions to be asked here are:
- Who is being adressed?
- What does the word „chase“ referr to?

Now try to combine all the elements and draw your own conclusions.

Print shop

noreply@blogger.com (Elena Doelma Holzheu) — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 15:43:00 +0000

I had these cards printed at Buschoe. I can highly recommend this print shop.

latest painting

noreply@blogger.com (Elena Doelma Holzheu) — Thu, 18 Oct 2007 19:32:00 +0000

"Mutterkuchen"

I found myslef interested in mixed-media lately. Working with bee's wax is a challenge. In this peace I tried to express both the potential and vulnerability of being a female.