Natural Emotions – The Story

About this exhibition:
What has the past year been other than a global roller coaster of emotions?
Surprise, Fear, Hope, Anger, Love, Sadness, Compassion, all whirled together with topics like Global warming, poverty, pollution, animal cruelty, pandemics and political madness – to name a few. Although important to know and care about, these can be a bit overwhelming and become toxic if we don’t give the same attention to positive things in our lives.

I express a spectrum of emotions in my new work through images of nature, mostly underwater settings. I believe that nature is playing an essential role in our lives for growing and nourishing our positive emotions and help us embracing the other side of the spectrum.

Nature has a special little trick box to help us recharge our energies and at the same time reflects and confronts our feelings. Our brains plot by assimilating emotions to what we see and experience (Who hasn’t seen a Dolphin “smile” before?).

I admire nature’s beauty with this new series of paintings and at the same
time project human feelings onto them to stimulate a reflection in the viewer
.

To see the images in full size, visit the gallery.

Nostalgia in paradise
Sitting in our little bubble we still feel the ‘Weltschmerz’ weighing on our shoulders. Balancing the strength of the current with taking moments to
enjoy what we have is important. Like a seahorse lazily swaying forth and back, carefree, but still vigilant.

60×40 cm, NZD 1,050

Serenity
Love and optimism create a calm environment that allows us to lean back or immerse
ourselves and enjoy the moment.

76x102cm, NZD 2,400

Joy – Jolly Jelly
The small things in life often bring us the greatest joy.
Keep that inner child close!

30x40cm, NZD 480

Strength in times of Turmoil
There are numerous emotions
that find their way to us through experiences and moments. If negative emotions are given too much room to grow, they can spiral us into turmoil. They are part of us so we can learn how to embrace them with the strength we build over time. The more pieces we add, the more we can grow.

102x76cm, NZD 2,400

Surprise in the Dark
Little pleasant moments brighten our day when we least
expect it – like seeing an octopus during a night dive.

50x76cm, NZD 1,600

Growing
We are growing our entire life. It doesn’t suddenly stop at 40. Yes, we are growing old after we grew tall, but we also grow to be wiser, and we grow to learn about our emotions. New research suggests that new synapses between brain cells continue growing throughout our lifetimes if properly stimulated.


40x30cm, NZD 420

Heimweh
The German word to express the longing feeling for our loved ones. With family and
friends overseas and borders closed it only grows stronger.
It is a wonderful to have people who we can miss.

30x40cm, NZD 480

Flower’s expression
Grief can take many shapes and forms. It can be paralysing, or it can be a maze that is hard to solve and break free from. But when we rediscover its center, we find that the beautiful and precious moment or person whose loss made us sad in the first place, is still there in our
memories.

40x30cm, NZD 420

The prey
Woven into our DNA fear is a powerful emotion, sometimes whispering, sometimes screaming. Even if the mind
logically knows what is going on and how we can manage a situation, this feeling digs its claws deep into us once you allow it to enter.

25x30cm, NZD 360

Riding the Current
Trust – Finding someone we can trust is special and sweet. When we trust the current of life now and then and allow ourselves to float with it, it brings us to wonderful, unexpected places.

50x100cm, NZD 2,200

Distraction
What is it about distractions that is so enticing and entertaining that it keeps us from what we were planning to do? Sometimes getting lost in the detail is…. Oh! A seahorse…..

45x45cm, NZD 690

Harmony
When everything is perfectly balanced at the right moment, right time and right place we have this sweet feeling of happiness.

They are often small like this painting and sometimes overlooked, but appear luckily often if we take the time to see them.

30x40cm, NZD 480

Mutual Affection
Mutual affection and respect are at the center of love and friendship. Our relationships invigorate and enrich our lives, enable us to grow as a person and to experience what it means to be human.

Once there is a foundation, this tender, delicate feeling will grow into something strong and endurable.

91x122cm, NZD 3,400

Anticipation
The moment just before an
action is a sweet spot. The
silence that briefly follows a
surprise until we realise what is happening prickles under our skin.

What’s going to happen next?

50x100cm, NZD 1,900

Natural Emotions – Solo Exhibition

It was a busy lead-up to this day, the 28 April 2021. Juggling between work, group art shows, house-hunting and social life I worked tirelessly on the new pieces for my third solo-show.

But all that preparation and planning since October 2020 did not prevent me from the mad rush that I encountered one day before the opening night, sitting over the brochure and finalising the last words of my descriptions. The paintings were hanging, carefully curated by Alan (the gallery owner) and myself.

In the end, it was a great success. Seeing the gallery filled with art-lovers who were interested in my new work was exhilarating.

“Natural Emotions” is about understanding our own feelings and the role nature can play in our emotional lives.

You can read about the story behind “Natural emotions” and each piece here.

To see the images in original size, visit the gallery.

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