Jette van der Lende
My paintings tell stories by focusing on what is important in life - humour, social, political and personal issues that affect us all. I portray objects that symbolize these issues, combined in purposeful ways, now often against wooden backgrounds, as I give complete attention on the objects, I like to show the wood as a frame of nature. Even though certain subject matters and the circumstances or situations they represent may be difficult for some to contemplate, I seek the beauty within them regardless.
By painting portraits of common things, I remove all connotations that may relate to specific people, places or times. It is the universality of these symbols and what they represent that is significant-- to all of us, no matter who we are. At the same time, I paint in such a way that these compositions can be taken entirely at face value and appreciated on purely aesthetic terms, as classic representational still-lifes, without the necessity of referencing anything beyond that. But the invitation is always extended to explore as deeply and thoughtfully as one might wish.
