Laurence Steenbergen

Color and curvilinear line formulate sumptuously

intoxicating, puzzle-like compositions in Laurence

Steenbergen’s paintings. Created as they are by a

professional photographer, these piercingly penetrating

works betray an insistent urge to find the soul of a subject.

Shapes — distorted, rounded, circular or jaggedly pointed —

articulate a shrill, explosive beauty through simple yet elegant

brushwork. Inspired by life’s joys and sorrows, Steenbergen’s

intriguing, rasping texture speaks to the contradictory and

complex nature of everyday life. Correspondingly, the artist

abstracts the natural world, teasing a poetic exquisiteness

from the common and familiar. With a Matisse-like black line

and de Kooning-esque use of space, Steenbergen admires

Van Gogh’s ability to transcend the banal and electrify

canvases in vivaciously expressive color. Spiritedly curious

about a myriad of subjects and themes, she collides Western

aesthetics with Eastern conceits. “Very often I am inspired

by certain combinations of colors, forms or the awareness of

something beautiful,” says Steenbergen. “It can be a spark in

the dark, the form of a chair or tree, a lovely color within dirty

colors or a moment of happiness.”

A South Korean, raised in the Netherlands, Laurence

Steenbergen’s works are visual hybrids of Eastern and Western

art historical traditions. A photography correspondent for her

local paper, the artist lives and works in the Netherlands.

www.laurences11.jalbum.net

www.Agora-Gallery.com/ArtistPage/Laurence_Steenbergen.aspx