Sometimes the artist's biography leads us to a better understanding of the work. Bibi was born in Poland and her family moved to Sweden. From there she came to the Netherlands. She studied at the Vrije Academie in The Hague and was accepted into the Visual Arts department at the Royal Academy of Art there. However, her attitude was not suitable for following the pattern of the study; her motivation was already so great that the endless exercises and the imposed reflection could not fascinate her. She had to quit her training prematurely.
Since then she has continued to paint steadily. The experience of many years of experimentation and self-examination can be read in her paintings. The experiences of her youth are regularly reflected in her work. They are embedded in a world that seems lost forever.
Everything is done in an intuitive way. She has a memory image or she assembles a painted whole from different elements. Sometimes she uses different perspectives in a painting. This results in particularly arresting scenes where the viewer is hit on the head by sloping surfaces.
This is not about the bravado of painting; all objects, people and animals are painted in an elementary way. There is nothing too much about brush strokes and texture of painting here. Only what is needed to bring an image to life.
The color spectrum evokes the world of the former Eastern Bloc. Bibi uses strangely stuffy colors that we have forgotten. She shows people in all their vulnerability and objects in couples' lives gain a strength that can only be achieved through long work and consideration.
When Bibi is at work something happens; it's not just about the result. An energy is palpable, a struggle to make visible the tormented nature of our existence.
Written by a teacher from the Art Royal Academy
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