Recuerdos de la Alhambra Print

My name is Gerty Vos, born 1965 in the Netherlands. As long as I can remember,I became happy if I came into a studio-like environment or even when I only saw one on television. The 17th century ‘ the Golden Age’- Dutch masters like Rembrandt and ‘Vermeer’ in the 'Rijksmuseum' in Amsterdam, with all their realistic looking clothes full of creased and folded fabric, but with a clearly visible touch, have inspired me to this day. This rendering the material expression is a tradition from the Netherlands and Belgium in this "Golden Age". I also really enjoy to examine how I as well can express the different materials as best as possible in the subject of my painting. My attraction to make paintings has always been slumbering; I made a work now and then. Relatively late in my life I really started to admit to this; not only by attending classes at the art academy, but also by arranging my own studio! In my search during my study, my fascination came back again for creases and folds. I am intuitive in mixing the right color and I also have a lot of fun in it. White is 'the color' that I find the most interesting to express. Especially because all colors come together in white. My works explores the tangible and intangible dimensions of identity and the relationship with the expression of color and fabrics in a painting. I have made a series of works that I have collectively titled as ‘I am’. The continuing strong need to be "someone" and thus "to be different" and at the same time the fear of exclusion. In these works I examine the material and immaterial dimension of identity. The expression of white in the painting also fits in this research; the white that is apparently neutral can only be well expressed through the use of different colors; we are not just one identity and we need all the colors to shine! What I regularly show within my work is the sunlight. It is mainly about the feeling I want to evoke when you look at the painting: as if the sun shines from behind the viewer at the work.