Press (from BN-Destem)

I prefer to paint women: more form

For years, Karla Siemerink's work hung on the walls of her home. Now, she is showing it to the outside world for the first time, with an exhibition at Den Enghel. "It's quite exciting, yes. For the very first time, I'm taking it out into the world with my first exhibition. I'm really curious what people will think of it," said Karla Siemerink (56) from Bergen op Zoom, who is a late bloomer in the art world. Although she has been involved in art for more than ten years, her work has hung at home, visible only to household members, family, and acquaintances. And she remained a "normal" housewife in the meantime. Now, she is exhibiting her work to the public for the first time with a (sales) exhibition at Den Enghel, a dance center, grand café, and lunch restaurant on the Grote Markt in Bergen op Zoom.

Fourteen works are on display there until the end of February: paintings, collages, and mixed techniques. The exhibition has already received a lot of feedback, according to Jac. van den Elshout, the owner of Den Enghel. "More than ever before at an exhibition here. And I haven't heard any negative comments yet. People are really interested, even in buying something." In fact, Van den Elshout has purchased one of the paintings hanging on his walls.

Karla Siemerink has always enjoyed drawing. But it wasn't until about fifteen years ago, after moving from Vlissingen to Bergen op Zoom, that she really started pursuing it. She enrolled in a part-time program at Sint-Lucas, an academy of visual arts in Kapellen, just across the border in Flanders, where she earned a higher degree in painting. She works from home but also spends two afternoons a week at Kapellen for models available through the program. Karla Siemerink prefers to paint and draw people, whether nude or clothed. "It's difficult and expensive to get models yourself. That's why I still visit the school. It's also useful because you keep learning every time."

The subject of the work at Den Enghel is people, almost all of whom are women. Karla Siemerink says, "I find human forms and body postures fascinating. Women are more natural and graceful in 'tough' poses. But it's also a matter of supply: there are simply more female models than male." The figures in her paintings, often the same person depicted in a series of poses on the canvas, are always recognizable as human bodies but often only vaguely so. "I don't necessarily want to paint figuratively, but I don't want to be too abstract either. I'm somewhere in between: it should remain recognizable."

Karla Siemerink doesn't have illusions that Den Enghel will be the starting point of a grand career in art. "It gives me a thrill that people can finally see what I'm doing. I hope that more exhibitions will follow. But I'm not thinking about pursuing it professionally. Painting and drawing are just things I really enjoy doing."

By: Arthur ’ t Hart