My work is about the plurality of my own identity, and how I relate to the world around me. I mainly paint self-portraits, which deal with my childhood, my queer identity and being a 'woman'. My work is therefore autobiographical, but also touches on elements of fiction in the search for that own identity. My portraits constantly balance between characters and myself, touching on personal issues of sexuality, identity and memories. Subjects I deal with include myself as a young woman, free and spiritual, seductive, historical, traumatised, powerful, as a painter, as a lesbian woman, and as a human being. Over the years, I have created and collected a special collection of garments that represent the different characters of my portraits . They are thematically linked by cultural references and explorations within the experience of being a woman.
I experiment with the shape of these garments but also with the visibility of the naked body. In doing so, I try to question traditional notions of 'being a woman' - and what this means to me.
I, Joline Kwakkenbos (b. 1997, Hilversum, Netherlands) grew up in a small dutch village. In my childhood, the need to express myself in drawing and painting was already present. In 2019, I obtained my bachelor's degree in Fashion Design. Through the diversity of subjects I received during my studies in Fashion Design, I discovered that my visual language could also find form through painting. Something I started exploring more after my studies.
RESIDENCIES / FUNDS
2024:
Current resident at TKE Studios Margate https://www.traceyeminfoundation.com/joline-kwakkenbos
2023:
Clovermill Artist Residency The Netherlands
2022:
Expo Bart, Nijmeegse Kunstnacht, in collaboration with Jochem Rotteveel, Nijmegen NL
Mondriaan Fonds kunstenaar project
2021:
Artist in Residence: Expo Bart, Kunstnacht Nijmegen / Jochem Rotteveel
EXHIBITIONS
2024:
‘WE DO NOT SLEEP’ group exhibition, TKE Studios Margate supported by a public and recorded conversation about the exhibition between Katy Hessel (Great Women Artists) and Tracey Emin during International Womensday
2023:
Gallery Sanaa; ‘Project Hermine’ (exhibition and spoken word)
Group exhibition Borgerstraat Studios, Groots Rotterdams Atelier Weekend
Group exhibition De Kommunie, Havenloods Utrecht
Group exhibition ‘Zomersalon’ Gallery Westerkadekunst, Rotterdam
Duo-exhibition Matias Salgado, Tinimini Room Gallery Dordrecht
2022:
Group exhibition; ‘8 promising female artists of Amsterdam’, Axs Art x Atelier Artplaats Amsterdam
Group exhibition ‘Zomersalon’ at Galerie Maaskoe, Rotterdam
2021:
Group exhibition ‘the Elliot Luncheon’; art / performance / spoken word, Hilversum
Performance with Britt Liberg, Open Mic / Fashion Clash Festival Maastricht
Gallery Expo Bart: ‘Act of Color’ Kunstnacht Nijmegen
Group exhibition Sissi’s Amsterdam
2020:
Group exhibition BLAA Gallery Copenhagen ‘Corona confinement Blues’
2nd prize Designblok Prague Diploma Selection Award, Prague, CH
PRESS
2024:
Interview C41 Magazine ‘Tapestry of identity: In conversation with Joline Kwakkenbos’ https://www.c41magazine.com/tapestry-of-identity-in-conversation-with-joline-kwakkenbos/
Interview Can Pep Rey Barcalona ‘The Art of Portraiture’ https://canpeprey.com/blogs/magazine/joline-kwakkenbos-and-the-art-of-portraiture
2022:
Interview podcast ‘De Makers’ Rotterdam
2020:
Interview ‘Jong Talent’ Metropolis M
EDUCATION
2015-2019 Graduated with honours ArtEZ University of the Arts, Arnhem