Mieke Blees

For me art is about the wonder as well as the challenging things that start happening when you start playing with the world around you. Creating something allows for reflection and the surfacing of things that were perhaps subconscious at the time I felt an attraction toward a certain idea.

Charcoal has been a favorite medium for a long time, as it responds so immediately and lightly to the touch, yet it can leave pretty impactful marks as well. I also like playing with paint, clay and collage.

As I am quite introspective about my own experience, I can really feel the need to withdraw for some time in the studio to feel the freedom to play. I imagine that what comes forward in my personal expressions, can sometimes connect to a wider experience as well. I am interested in the urge to try to make things that don't particularly remind of familiar aesthetics, and things without a direct practical use. In other words; I am most interested in creating something autonomous, something that's defined by it's own rules. And in this day and age, postmodernism, with not many real rules to defy, maybe the biggest obstacle is getting beyond facades and obvious solutions.

While I work I am often more interested in direct experiences, rather ...

2000-2004 Bachelor of Fine Arts at the Willem deKooning Academy in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.

2003 Semester at Emily Carr Institute in Vancouver, Canada.