Anneliet Van Beelen

When I look around, I see not the rule but the exception. Not the whole but the deviation. In groups of people I mainly see the outsiders. Everyone wants to belong, but many people are excluded, in many situations and for all kinds of reasons. Such exclusion can already be observed on a small scale in the schoolyard and extends to society at large as discrimination based on color, gender, age. Misfits and underdogs always have my attention.
I paint, make images from papier-mâché and vintage textiles, embroider on old photos and often change techniques and materials to express my ideas. A recurring element in my work is a form of collage: I seek to combine things that don't belong together. This creates an image with an anomaly and yields a surprising effect.
Preferably an image that you have never seen before, with a bit of luck also with some humour.

Education
2004 - 2009 visual arts, Minerva Art Academy, Groningen
1996 PhD thesis Multimodal Transport Law, Leiden
1981 - 1986 Dutch Law, University of Groningen
1977 - 1981 Dutch Language and Literature, University of Utrecht

see www.vanbeelen.nu/english