Elmarie van Straten
NEITHER HERE NOR THERE
A Solo Exhibition
When tragedy or uncertainty strike, fight or flight kick in, and what determines our impetus probably relies on our personality, as the writer Anaïs Nin famously said, “We don’t see things as they are, but rather we see them as we are”. In troubled times I prefer to ‘escape’ to a distant memory of a time or place where things were tranquil, weightless, and even whimsical. My art has always been centred around Escapism, since my earliest years as an art student learning about the two camps of Expressionism, I have always been more drawn to the dreamlike Blue Horses of Franz Marc than the agonising scream of Edvard Munch.
This body of work, titled, “Neither Here Nor There”, portrays memories of places I have visited whilst traveling and working abroad. Swimming with horses in the Bahamas and Mexico was an experience I enjoyed frequently, an activity that jolted me away from my everyday responsibilities. I often find myself back in that memory, a dream of a liminal space that is neither here, nor there.
Pegasus 2023 Oil & spray paint on board 141 x 187,5 cm
Blue Totem 2023 Oil & spray paint on board 63,5 x 94,5 cm
Blue Totem II 2023 Mixed Media & neon light on board 59 x 94,5 cm
Easy Tiger 2023 Oil & spray paint on canvas 62,5 x 93 cm
Portal I 2023 Mixed media & neon light on board 130 x 97 cm
Portal II 2023 Mixed media & neon light on board 130 x 97 cm
Here & There 2023 Oil & spray paint on board 102 x 102 cm
S P A C E 2023 Oil, spray paint & mirror on board 60 x 60 cm
Pegasus 2023 Oil, spray paint & mirror on board 60 x 60 cm
Labadie Pink 2023 Oil & spray paint on board 32 x 32 cm
Orange Abstract 2023 Oil & spray paint & mirror on board 32 x 32 cm
Blue Abstract 2023 Oil & spray paint & mirror on board 32 x 32 cm
Labadie Blue 2023 Oil & spray paint on board 32 x 32 cm
Labadie Green 2023 Oil & spray paint on board 32 x 32 cm
Green Abstract 2023 Oil & spray paint & mirror on board 32 x 32 cm
Cabo 2023 Oil & spray paint on board 95 x 71 cm
Bubbles 2023 Oil & spray paint on board 62 x 92 cm
Half Moon Cay 2023 Oil & spray paint on canvas 92 x 62 cm
Liminal 2023 Oil & spray paint on board 62 x 92 cm
Pink abstract 2023 Oil, spray paint & mirror on board 32 x 32 cm
It was all a dream 2023 Oil & spray paint on board 102 x 102 cm
Ochre waters 2023 Oil & spray paint on board 102 x 102 cm
Roar 2023 Oil & spray paint on board 42 x 42 cm
Alternative Horizon 2023 Mixed media, neon light & bronze mirror on board 94,5 x 204 cm
Pegasus 2023 Risograph on Stephen 250gsm Edition of 30 31,5 x 42 cm
The Way We Are 2023 Mixed Media & neon light on board 153 x 82 cm