* All images used with permission. Please do not distribute without first contacting the artist.
Dutch artist Francien Krieg lives in the countryside in the middle of the Netherlands with her two children and husband, working full-time in her studio. She graduated from the Royal Art Academy in The Hague in 1998, obtaining a degree in Monumental Art, which brought her to think conceptually and she discovered her fascination for the human body. Francien Krieg expressed her thoughts in these academic years with meat installations and human skins made of rubber.
A few years later, she picked up her passion for painting at The Free Academy of The Hague. She expressed her fascination for the human body in paintings with unusual body perspectives. Soon her work was picked up by art collectors and art galleries. It became part of important Dutch art collections like the ING Collection and the former Scheringa Collection. One of the better galleries in The Netherlands, Gallery Mokum in Amsterdam, picked up on the quality of her work and initiated a cooperation.
Francien explains her work by saying, ” In the period of Covid-19 and quarantine, Francien Krieg paints self-portraits that chronicle a journey through time. She captures several phases in the forced home isolation and the emotional life of the isolated. Initially the quarantine provided peace, security and confidence, With the passage of time shadowy aspects of this type of isolation gradually emerge. Inner turmoil, confrontations with oneself, the longing for fresh air and light, the hunger for touch, the uncertainty of times ahead begin to manifest . The series of portraits, which is still ongoing, shows how the inner world comes to life in all its facets while the outer world stands still. The series evolves with current events and offers a special perspective on a worldwide and at the same time personal event, the outcome of which is still unknown. The contrast between tension and relaxation, struggle and resignation, makes this series of works an intriguing whole.”
