Collection:
Marcel Kerkhoff
Marcel Kerkhoff
Narratives involving paintings placed within isolated interior spaces have presented an occasional part in Kerkhoff’s work over the years. He has recently focused specifically on this topic, though on a relatively small scale.
"My current work gives focus to paintings of interiors. In particular, the imagined paintings exhibited within those interiors.
In a very matter of fact manner, animals, animal characters, fairy-tale characters and pop culture icons all hang on equal ground, allowing the viewer to conjure up narratives from subtle suggestions. These interiors become sites of possibilities where connections between events and places could be discovered.
There is a contrast between the extent of detail and the emptiness present in these interiors, and although seemingly devoid of life, through the stillness permeates a connecting force between the subjects on the walls of each interior. There is something poetic, intimate and precious about small scale work with a particular level of handcrafted detail. It draws one in, seductively forcing engagement, causing the eye to focus yet meander.
In a sense, these interiors are used to moderate and regulate a collection of thoughts reflecting the importance, significance and insignificance of things. Accepting that all of our belongings and ideas become a part of something else, in its isolation we are left with traces of life."
Marcel Kerkhoff was born in New York, raised in the Netherlands and India before immigrating to Canada. He completed a BFA from NSCAD University and an MFA from the University of Saskatchewan. His work is represented in various public and private collections across North America and Europe.
"My current work gives focus to paintings of interiors. In particular, the imagined paintings exhibited within those interiors.
In a very matter of fact manner, animals, animal characters, fairy-tale characters and pop culture icons all hang on equal ground, allowing the viewer to conjure up narratives from subtle suggestions. These interiors become sites of possibilities where connections between events and places could be discovered.
There is a contrast between the extent of detail and the emptiness present in these interiors, and although seemingly devoid of life, through the stillness permeates a connecting force between the subjects on the walls of each interior. There is something poetic, intimate and precious about small scale work with a particular level of handcrafted detail. It draws one in, seductively forcing engagement, causing the eye to focus yet meander.
In a sense, these interiors are used to moderate and regulate a collection of thoughts reflecting the importance, significance and insignificance of things. Accepting that all of our belongings and ideas become a part of something else, in its isolation we are left with traces of life."
Marcel Kerkhoff was born in New York, raised in the Netherlands and India before immigrating to Canada. He completed a BFA from NSCAD University and an MFA from the University of Saskatchewan. His work is represented in various public and private collections across North America and Europe.