Past Exhibition

Art on Demand 2.3

Artists Sidi Chen & Nancy Timmermans and Curated by Alisha Sandhu
Sep 22, 2016
to
Nov 20, 2016
EXHIBITION

Art on Demand 2.3 brings together the works of Sidi Chen and Nancy Timmermans, emerging artists whose recent series’ grapple with the many ways that we understand and construct identity.

Sidi Chen, an emerging artist originating from China, cites the physical and metaphysical aspects of the natural environment as a primary influence. Chen embraces the Japanese concept of “wabi-sabi” (beauty that is imperfect, impermanent, and incomplete), channeling this into a practice that he sees as the embodiment of his life’s journey. This series of compositions combines techniques associated with the traditional Asian art practices with modern European influences, like Expressionism. The artist creates an energetic surface using both line and colour. The dark bluish-green edges of the background are balanced by vibrantly-coloured figures in the foreground. The overall effect creates a sense of depth while also acknowledging the flatness of the painting.

Nancy Timmermans finds inspiration in her physical and familial environment. She describes her practice as a “physical and visual documentation” akin to a visual journal entry.

In this body of work, she investigates the structure of the human face and the endless range of emotions that can be revealed through even the subtlest of changes. Feeling distanced from her Dutch cultural heritage, Timmermans has created a series of portraits of her Netherlandish friends and family, with particular emphasis on grumpiness, or “knorrigheid”. The exposed woodgrain in the artists’ panels echoes the delicate lines of her nuanced portraits.

Through vastly different styles and materials, Chen and Timmermans openly invite the viewer to consider how we come to know others, and how we come to know ourselves.

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