‘Unconsciously I paint the shapes within
the edges of the painting'
It’s a familiar image: artists such
as Karel Appel and Jan Wolkers. A tangled head of hair, a
messy life with lots of alcohol and women and a muse to find
inspiration. The artist stays in his studio for days, wildly putting strokes of
paint on the canvas. This image does not fit Eveline Braak. She paints orderly
graphical paintings with simple shapes and brings her own recording device to tape
this interview.
Upon entry it is
noticeable that the floor of her studio is empty. Large
canvases are leaning against the wall. They are wrapped in plastic
with cardboard between the paintings for protection. Only the
back is visible. In a cabinet all the paintings of 25 by 50 cm. are neatly
piled up. I walk past two nails, on which she later will hang the
paintings. She grabs two folding chairs. The room is pleasantly warm and
there is no trace of paint to be seen. She presents two stroopwafels
with coffee and she speaks with a soft, hesitant voice.
‘While painting, I have the unconscious
tendency to paint the shapes within the edges of the painting.’ Her paintings
are organized. Shapes are arranged neatly next to one another and fit exactly
on the linen frames. These simple circular shapes are playful and
childlike. The shapes have no perspective but there is a sense of depth. This
sense of depth combined with the composition produces a contrast that causes a certain tension. This tension can be felt when
you look at details such as a shape with the background shining through, a
recurring color or a shape that is cut out, glued on and assimilated into the
paint. Her style of painting is graphical, layered and cheerful. In the shapes
I recognize a head of hair or Barbapapa. Some shapes look
like cucumbers or eggplants.
A black round shape, a
yellowish cloudlike pine tree, a grid and a bush in the background. A large painting is hanging from the two nails
now. In 2011 this painting was exhibited in the Royal Palace in Amsterdam,
because Eveline was nominated for the Royal Awards for Painting. ‘In that big
palace hall this painting really filled the space. You can see now that it is too
large for my studio, it fills the whole wall. ‘Every nominee could exhibit one
painting and the winners were allowed to exhibit two. ‘ It was the last year I
could enter the contest, because that year I turned 35, the age limit. All the
key people from the art world were present in the Palace. Yes, it was a great
experience!’
Watching
‘Painting is just there, it is an energy that I have, always. I don’t give a
particular meaning to the paintings. I get inspiration out of the paintings
themselves, out of the composition and
my work method. I will see something that interests me and then I will
elaborate on that in other paintings. For example since one year I use a dark
grey grid. It is a nice starting point for a painting, it gives me structure
and the grid forms a contrast with the rounded shapes in the foreground. In
that way I can play with foreground and background while trying to get
spaciousness into the painting. Some see elements of landscape in them. I
mainly try to develop my own style and I am just very visually oriented.’
On weekdays she often visits
her studio in the evenings after her job as project coördinator at ProRail. On
weekends she commutes between her house and her studio. She is never there all
day long. She comes, looks, works on the paintings, leaves and comes back. ‘It
is very relaxing, is doesn’t feel like work. When I am really in a work flow, I
will bike back and forth three times a day. Half of the time I will look at the
paintings that are hanging from the two nails. Then I figure out what I will
do, I will mix paint, lay the painting on the floor and quickly apply the
paint. The structure of my painting process has been basically the same since I
finished art school.‘
