Biography

Geneviève Gougon

It can be tricky to try and capture someone's essence or work in a few words, but to give you an impression I can tell you that I was born  on the island of Curacao and moved to the Netherlands in 1985. In 1994 I moved to Leeuwarden for my studies and stayed there until  my move  to Emmen, Drenthe (the Netherlands) in Oktober 2008. I got my B.A's from the Noordelijke Hogeschool in Leeuwarden in Arts & Design and Arts & Education. Both studies focused on developing our ability in the plastic arts. The first part of Arts & Design was aimed at the disciplines, plastic arts; drawing, sculpting, wood -and metal working(amongst other materials), textiles and audio visual studies. In the second part of this study we chose our major which for me was spatial presentation/design. Here I specialized in designing furniture and the production of furniture. After finishing Arts and Design I wanted to add more depth to my knowledge base so I started in the second year of the Academy of arts in Kampen (NL), but it was after a very brief period of time  that I discovered it wasn't the road I wanted to travel. I went back to the Noordelijke Hogeschool in Leeuwarden and enrolled in the studies Arts and Education to get my teaching degree in plastic arts. 

Balanced Creation

The road an idea travels from within the mind to the exterior where it manifests itself, I find very fascinating and gives me the confidence that everything you can imagine, you can also manifest. The possibilities are infinite. The thing is to find the right way to convey that which you want to manifest. Whichever medium I chose to manifest my ideas by, I like to follow my own path.
 

















I let myself be inspired by
whatever it is I encounter on that path. I prefer to do this  outside of the established boundaries and set boxes of this world, of which there are far too many any way. In this way a manifestation develops in the process, where only one thing is crucial; balance and harmony. I believe everyone benefits by cultivating his or her own creative force, which will guide a person closer to his core of being. The creative process in this sense is a form of expression of the soul and is a natural state of being for a person. This is often forgotten. If I'm able to spread some kind of harmony with my work, part of my goal is accomplished. I hope my work will also inspire others to manifest their own harmony. 

Art

Painting with energy

In fluent abstract and sometimes figurative style I translate the energetic dimensions which are one with everything that manifests itself on earth, according to my experience Everything is energy vibrating on its own frequency. My style; painting with energy. To discover more, look “through the paint” with an open heart, forget what it has to be, experience what is. My focus in each of my pieces and in life is Harmony, balance and freedom.

It can also have something to do with more common emotions or be focusing on a message or a target for a specific person. Oftentimes I don't know the outcome of a painting right from the start, but gradually the message becomes clear for interpretation. There are also paintings that take form through a more down to earth approach. With these I could have a preset idea I want to work on or maybe I find an object as reference and use that. Either way all my work takes shape intuitively. I work in the flow of the moment and energy and let go of what it should depict and how. Art is often a surprise.

Artistic development

I am mainly schooled in the three dimensional art disciplines, but I gradually developed myself in the two dimensional field. During my college years, especially in the first two years, I did follow courses in drawing and painting, but it wasn't my major. When I started to make more of a conscious effort on the two dimensional field in 2001, I began with drawing organically shaped flat planes with earth toned Conté crayons on paper and cardboard. Then the emphasis shifted from these shapes into lines( line-drawings). From there I began adding more color to my work by using softer Pastel crayons and colored conté. The work still consisted of the same flowing figures, drawn intuitively, in which the subtle intensity of these life forms dominated over shape. This is also the case in my paintings, which show a natural evolution in style. The shapes and lines of the line-drawings make way for a more elaborate story with greater symbolism.