In Bloom

In this exhibition, Nel Maertens displays drawings, paintings, collages and an ephemeral installation. The works are based on two themes: “en plein air” sessions that punctuate her year and practice, and diary-like notes of immediate impressions, conversations and reflections. Oil and soft pastel on paper provide a quick, tactile gesture; in the studio, these sketches develop into slower, layered images. In terms of atmosphere, it is always spring: everything in bloom, always in development — cutting, combining, transforming, zooming in and out. Or, as Nel vividly puts it: ‘I garden in my drawings.’ Thematically, Maertens reflects on femininity and representation: how women are portrayed throughout art history and (popular) media, and how a dynamic, evolving feminism moves within that. In situ, the installation ‘Zaaien en Oogsten’ is a real eye-catcher: hand-scattered pigments and wheat flour that celebrate spring and come to fruition differently in each spot. The fragile, transitory traces simultaneously raise questions about ecology and sustainability.