Gwenneth Boelens

Gwenneth Boelens takes the precise observation and analysis of photography as point of departure and develops it into three-dimensional installations, collages, performances, photography, and video projections. In these works different methods of scientific fields, like archeology and philosophy, mix with an artist’s approach, retaining a certain openness. She illustrates, for example, the dialectic relation between culture and nature, the relationship of the human body to space, or the fragmentary character of memory and recognition. With a subtle pictorial language, without big gestures or ostentatious narration, she illuminates her objective very precisely.

Assembling images, rooms, and situations from memory is inevitably linked to the aspect of failure that Boelens retains in all her works. She approaches the world as if it still has to be discovered, analyzed, and comprehended while being aware of the doubts and possible mistakes that might occur. Here, the human presence is either equal to objects or subordinate to them. Slightly off-centered, yet clearly perceptible, the human is observer and catalyst at the same time for Boelens’ situations and arrangements.