Throughout her life and when the stars were aligned, Wen van der Drift has always worked as an artist type person. Her life has been rich with vast and varying experiences, extensive travel, and artistic vocations. Wen’s work as a painter concentrates mostly on still life fruits and root vegetables, being part of the movement “New Dutch Realism” ... or as Wen likes to call it, “seeking light in shadows”.
Most influenced by Rembrandt and the Old Dutch Masters for technique. Rothko, Nathan Oliveira and Lawrence Carol for invoking a sense of freedom and exploration. Frida Khalo and Paula Rego for “telling their stories with paint” ... and Pablo Picasso for the impact he made on the art world and "changing the way people see” [see art]. Wen van der Drift has held numerous solo & group exhibitions throughout her life. Holds a BVA in Visual Arts and Film Making. Her artistic practices include painting (primarily), photography, writing, sculpture and occasional film making. |
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She is a exceptional colourist, more often known for her contemporary still life works, and her earlier work for being emotive and rich with expression. Wen is currently concentrating on contemporary figurative works in oil of women and 'hard working angelic figures' using both traditional techniques and scrape painting, with an exhibition in the works titled “Back from the Brink” ...
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"Over the last couple of decades I have moved more to “Improvisational Expressionism”, using oil paint and sculpting tools to scratch and scrape the paint onto canvas and boards. In this process I essentially peel back the layers of my own deeper subconscious, by thinly adding, and layering, then scraping back layers and layers of oil paint … simultaneously recycling old paint with new and experimenting with the light and translucency in the paint itself. Each layer revealing opalescent effects in the paint, as well as exposing my own inner consciousness allowing long forgotten memories and deeply buried subconscious reactions to be revealed.”
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