Frances Alleblas

video, tekenen, spiritualiteit, schilderen, natuur, mens, Literair, Lichaam, internationaal, Grafiek, fotografie, film, Figuratief, Ecologie, Dekolonisatie, Conceptueel, Audiovisueel

Lees voor

In de afgelopen jaren heb ik gewerkt aan een serie werken in tekenen, fotografie en film. Ik heb dit project “The Island” genoemd.

In de video, de foto’s en de serie van grote houtskooltekeningen op doek zien we een werk dat geïnspireerd is door kinderlijke fantasieën over onbewoonde tropische eilanden, avonturenromans/films, naturalistische ontdekkingen (Charles Darwin) en de ontgoocheling van het volwassen worden. Schijnbaar paradijs en dystopie. Schoonheid en verval. Tropicalia. Wat is nep en wat is echt. De serie is grotendeels geïnspireerd door op de volgende romans/films; Lord of the Flies, Robinson Crusoe, The Blue Lagoon en Martin Pincher. Maar ook op het boek The Voyage of the Beagle van Charles Darwin, waarin de naturalist zijn evolutietheorie ontwikkelt.

Mijn 'andere/lopende' werk bestaat uit houtskool-, potlood-, aquareltekeningen en (mono-)prints van verschillende formaten, en film. De tekeningen en films hebben een figuratieve kwaliteit en laten een wereld zien waarin onverwachte verbanden vaak confronteren met onduidelijke gevoelens die een zekere verwarring oproepen. De protagonisten zijn raadselachtig, ongrijpbaar en lijken verzonken in hun eigen wereld.
Het uiteindelijke kunstwerk is niet de uitvoering van een vooraf bedacht idee, maar wordt ook bepaald door het proces van maken zelf. In de tekenkunst spelen compositie en materiaalgebruik dus een grote rol in de uiteindelijke betekenis. De kwaliteit van de tekening zelf is gelijk aan het onderwerp of de voorstelling.
Sommige series werken zijn interpretaties van literaire oorsprong. Er is een serie gebaseerd op de roman The Old Man and the Sea van Hemingway, en een serie geïnspireerd door The Island of Bali van Michael Covarrubias, bijvoorbeeld.

Samenvattend zou ik kunnen stellen dat al mijn werk een zekere poëtische kwaliteit heeft.

**Castaway (the island series), pencil, monoprint on paper, 30x 40 cm each, 2022** - In the works depicted here, the island is the same, yet the backdrop of all the large industry, makes it an entirely different island all of a sudden. Seeing the background depicted, destabilizes the imaginary of the viewer. It redefines the place. The myth of paradise, which for many could be represented by a deserted tropical island, seen with this actual backdrop of the industrial world, creates a surprise of strangeness and shows the complex relationship I/we have with the real. The two worlds depicted here in the reality of the island, seem to not belong together, as they seem worlds apart. A bold confrontation of globalisation, overturning preconceptions and stereotypes. Based on film stills from my video work 'the island".

**Still "New York City is out there', video, 3.44 mins, 2016** - "New York City is out there' shows a figure lying in bed in a hotel room and a shot of the stairs/hallway of the same hotel. I filmed both shots just standing in the doorway of the room, looking in and out. The sounds of the city penetrates the little room, luring you out, seducing but also scaring you away. The sounds in the hallway are coming from upstairs, where a resident would sing all day, all night. The curtain of the little room moves according to the speed of the window fan and turns the little room into a little box in which the light goes on and off at such a speed, that your eyes can't properly adjust. The video has a eerie feel to it. A madness I experienced in this city that never sleeps. A city that is out there, beyond that curtain. But also right here, in the room and in the hallway.

**Recover- single channel video 12 mins** - In de video "Recover" zien we een man die zogenaamde "qayaq rolls" oefent in de zee (ook wel Eskimo rolls genoemd). Ik kwam de man per toeval tegen en ben hem gaan filmen puur omdat ik geïntrigeerd werd door wat ik zag, niet wetende wat hij exact aan het doen was. De man beoefent het 'rollen' op een bijzonder precieze wijze aan de hand van dramatische, ritualistische bewegingen, hij heeft een intense focus, en lijkt in een meditatieve toestand te verkeren waarin hij niet alleen één met de kano, maar ook met het water/zijn omgeving lijkt te zijn geworden. Hij verdwijnt onder het wateroppervlak en komt toch telkens weer boven; de miraculeuze 'recovery'. De uitputting, het doorzetten, het jezelf omverwerpen en weer omhoog weten te komen, de strijd, de worsteling; wanneer onderwater voor ons niet zichtbaar, op het randje van verdrinken. Een oefening voor het leven. Ik zag in dit alles een poëtische dans waarin de fragiele balans tussen leven en dood wordt uitgebeeld. Om de video af te kunnen maken, ben ik op zoek gegaan naar deze onbekende man, wat een jaar geduurd heeft. Dank Hitoshi Maida, Singapore.

**"Eden & the shortbanded sailor"** - "Eden & the shortbanded sailor" 110 x 92 cm, watercolour, charcoal, ink, acrylic and pencil on paper, 2023

**'Bestiality', 150 x 180 cm, watercolour, pencil, charcoal & soft pastel on paper, 2014** - 'The Covarrubias series' is a series of large scale watercolor/charcoal drawings based on a texts from Miguel Covarrubias's book 'Island of Bali'. The titles of the drawings are literally taken from the book, yet I interpreted the texts in my own way, making it a story of my own. ‘Bestiality’ is a mentioned by Covarrubias in the book a couple of times. As the theme human-animal has had my interest in art for a long time, the title ‘Bestiality’ was something I had to work with. By choosing a swan as the subject of ‘Bestiality”, together with a girl, our thoughts immediately go to the Greek myth of “Leda and the Swan’ in which the god Zeus, in the form of a swan, seduces or rapes Leda. By making the swan a very dark, almost velvety black, it looks stronger, more dominant and masculine. The face of the girl shows a sort of absence, not resisting, not giving in either. The girl’s upper torso is placed next to her, leaving an empty space where her breasts and heart should be. Inside her empty womb we see a feather.

**'Somewhere in the middle'** - 'Somewhere in the middle' 175 x 68 cm, watercolour, pencil, charcoal, gesso & acrylic on paper, 2021

**Bleed Through** - Bleed Through 40 x 30 cm watercolour monoprint, pencil & pastel on paper, 2021

New mythologies, the Covarrubias series; Tedjakula's Horsebath — **Tedjakula's horsebath, 180 x 150 cm, watercolour & charcoal on paper, 2013** - Concept of this series of works; 'New Mythologies; The Covarrubias series' is a series of large scale watercolor/charcoal drawings based on a texts from Miguel Covarrubias's book 'Island of Bali'. The titles of the drawings are literally taken from the book, yet I interpreted the texts in my own way, making it a story of my own. Indonesian art & culture has had a big influence on my development as an artist. I studied fine art at ITB, Bandung, Java in my last year of my studies as an exchange student from the Willem de Kooning Art Academy in Rotterdam. Once I had my bachelor degree in the Netherlands in fine art, I moved to Bali where I worked in my studio and made an almost anthropological study of Balinese hindu culture. Miguel Covarrubias' book, 'The Island of Bali', first published in 1937, is an anthropological studies on the island's culture. The author, an artist himself, writes in a visually rich language, which inspired me to make the series. Balinese culture is often on the verge of beauty and something disquieting. Disquieting beauty has always been major element in my work. The series, even though literally based on texts from the book, are not illustrations. They are autonomous art pieces, pulled from the book and taken into my own visual world. Tedjakula's horse bath, 180 x 150 cm, watercolour & charcoal on paper, 2013 Tedjakula is a village in Bali where they used to have a bath especially for horses.

**A man thrown into the sea in a weighted sack, 180 x 150 cm, watercolour, pencil & charcoal on paper,** - Concept of this series of works; 'The Covarrubias series' is a series of large scale watercolor/charcoal drawings based on a texts from Miguel Covarrubias's book 'Island of Bali'. The titles of the drawings are literally taken from the book, yet I interpreted the texts in my own way, making it a story of my own. Indonesian art & culture has had a big influence on my development as an artist. I studied fine art at ITB, Bandung, Java in my last year of my studies as an exchange student from the Willem de Kooning Art Academy in Rotterdam. Once I had my bachelor degree in the Netherlands in fine art, I moved to Bali where I worked in my studio and made an almost anthropological study of Balinese hindu culture. Miguel Covarrubias' book, 'The Island of Bali', first published in 1937, is an anthropological studies on the island's culture. The author, an artist himself, writes in a visually rich language, which inspired me to make the series. Balinese culture is often on the verge of beauty and something disquieting. Disquieting beauty has always been major element in my work. The series, even though literally based on texts from the book, are not illustrations. They are autonomous art pieces, pulled from the book and taken into my own visual world. A man thrown into the sea in a weighted sack, 180 x 150 cm, watercolour, pencil & charcoal on paper, 2013 This drawing is based on an old Balinese story of throwing men who slept with women of a higher caste, into the sea to drown.

**Next is the perfumed sky, 180 x 150 cm watercolour & charcoal on paper, 2013** - Concept of this series of works; 'The Covarrubias series' is a series of large scale watercolor/charcoal drawings based on a texts from Miguel Covarrubias's book 'Island of Bali'. The titles of the drawings are literally taken from the book, yet I interpreted the texts in my own way, making it a story of my own. Indonesian art & culture has had a big influence on my development as an artist. I studied fine art at ITB, Bandung, Java in my last year of my studies as an exchange student from the Willem de Kooning Art Academy in Rotterdam. Once I had my bachelor degree in the Netherlands in fine art, I moved to Bali where I worked in my studio and made an almost anthropological study of Balinese hindu culture. Miguel Covarrubias' book, 'The Island of Bali', first published in 1937, is an anthropological studies on the island's culture. The author, an artist himself, writes in a visually rich language, which inspired me to make the series. Balinese culture is often on the verge of beauty and something disquieting. Disquieting beauty has always been major element in my work. The series, even though literally based on texts from the book, are not illustrations. They are autonomous art pieces, pulled from the book and taken into my own visual world. Next is the perfumed sky, 180 x 150 cm watercolour & charcoal on paper, 2013 An abstract drawing of a tropical jungle, set on a background of fairy-tale colours. This drawing refers to afterlife/heaven.

**'Kembar buncing; the royal twin couple Mesula & Mesuli' 150 x 180 cm, watercolour, charcoal & pastel** - New Mythologies, the Covarrubias series; Kembar Buncing The story tells of twins of the different sex who, when of a high caste, are believed to be married in the womb of the mother, and must marry in real life too. Higher caste twins of different sex are seen to be bringers of good luck. Mesula and Mesuli were twins of Royal blood in the story.

**Witches often assume, 180 x 150 cm, watercolour, charcoal, pastel, acrylic on paper, 2015** - Concept of this series of works; 'The Covarrubias series' is a series of large scale watercolor/charcoal drawings based on a texts from Miguel Covarrubias's book 'Island of Bali'. The titles of the drawings are literally taken from the book, yet I interpreted the texts in my own way, making it a story of my own. Indonesian art & culture has had a big influence on my development as an artist. I studied fine art at ITB, Bandung, Java in my last year of my studies as an exchange student from the Willem de Kooning Art Academy in Rotterdam. Once I had my bachelor degree in the Netherlands in fine art, I moved to Bali where I worked in my studio and made an almost anthropological study of Balinese hindu culture. Miguel Covarrubias' book, 'The Island of Bali', first published in 1937, is an anthropological studies on the island's culture. The author, an artist himself, writes in a visually rich language, which inspired me to make the series. Balinese culture is often on the verge of beauty and something disquieting. Disquieting beauty has always been major element in my work. The series, even though literally based on texts from the book, are not illustrations. They are autonomous art pieces, pulled from the book and taken into my own visual world. Witches often assume, 180 x 150 cm, watercolour, charcoal, pastel, acrylic on paper, 2015 the full text from the book is; 'Witches often assume the form of beautiful mute girls who make obscene advances to young men on lonely roads at night.'

Deze kunstenaar heeft nog geen toekenningen.