L'Opera Painting

Hesther van Doornum BA (1973) | Independent Contemporary Artist | Curated member of the NABK (National Association of Expressive Artists | Curated member of the BKKC (Brabant Knowledge Centre for Art & Culture) | Member of Pictoright. Hesther works freely, autobiographical as well as on commission. Her work is included in both business and private collections around the world. "Powerful, sensual women who are not frightened to show their vulnerability. These are the women on Hesther van Doornum's canvases. "˜This is me' they seem to proclaim. Hesther: "A woman who dares to be herself is wonderful to behold, balanced in body and spirit. The open attitude of my models radiates vulnerability as well as strength. This is enhanced by their transparency. The characters flow as it were, into the background. You can say that for me these faces are my canvasses; the landscape of women." Hesther has been passionate about drawing and painting since she was a child. Her first work, however, was inspired by the many drawings she had to do from models at college. In the course of the years Hesther's work has developed from a figurative style to a more abstract approach of her subjects. "I believe Art is born by imagination. Of course it also needs knowledge and curiosity and other aspects but without inspiration, something that comes from outside the consciousness of the artist, an artwork becomes hardly mediocre. I dream, read, hear, think, feel, see and start painting." People, particularly women, are a key element in her paintings. The choice of subject, expressive use of colour, composition and clearly visible strokes make her work a symbiosis of reason, feeling, sensuality and symbolism . Her work fascinates the observer, it is gripping and stays in your thoughts. "For me every painting is an achievement when I succeed in painting real, soulful women; when I succeed in capturing a moment in time, to make it count for ever."