Charlotte Molenkamp
Profile
Charlotte Molenkamp has carved out a distinctive niche in the contemporary art scene with her characteristic blend of technique and abstraction. At the Academy of Visual Arts in Tilburg, she mastered classical oil painting techniques, which have become the foundation of her artistic practice.
Molenkamp's approach to painting is marked by a dynamic tension between figuration and abstraction, a balance achieved in part through her ambidextrous technique - painting simultaneously with a brush in one hand and a spatula in the other. This method allows her to apply oil paint in layers that are both bold and delicate, creating canvases that pulse with life and emotion. All preliminary studies, so to speak, lie beneath the final image as Molenkamp brings to light a reality that essentially did not exist prior. This expressive force is enhanced by a unique color palette, which layers vibrant bursts with subtle washes, establishing a rhythm of shadow and light that creates a visually arresting painting.
Her subjects—often drawn from nature and her immediate surroundings—do not seek inspiration from far-flung locales or current events but rather from the everyday and the personal. Molenkamp’s gardens are an inexhaustible source of inspiration and depict not just any garden; they are interpretations of nature as experienced through her own emotional lens, often radiant and sunny, yet sometimes dark and mysterious. Similarly, her depictions of humans and animals are not meant to be direct representations but rather evoke feelings of recognition and emotional resonance with the viewer.
Molenkamp's non-conformist tenor is deeply rooted in her grounded and unapologetic stance. Early in her career, she portrayed figures in a more abstract manner, but over time she has reintroduced traditional painting techniques to bring a touch of realism back into her work. This evolution makes the interaction with her paintings more confrontational, demanding not just viewing but feeling and experiencing. Her figures must evoke excitement as if something entirely new is being created; a person who is not exactly one individual but with a feeling, a soul, that draws you in, in which you see yourself, or at least experience the feeling.
For Molenkamp, the purest subjects to paint are those close to her heart; she can do something with them, she receives them as gifts because they are already hers. The gardens that are often radiant and sunny, but sometimes dark, are reflective of the characters that show happiness as well as vulnerability. You always see in her paintings the urge for expression; it is not only about aesthetic beauty but also about raw authenticity. Just as a sunny garden can sometimes warm the cold soul, so too can an introverted or somber glance make the viewer pause to experience instantly recognizable and palpable emotions. Even if certain paintings seem abstract, there is still often a minimal reference to visible reality, making the apparent chaos organized and steering towards a certain thought.
