abstract – Circle Foundation for the Arts

Dorothea Van De Winkel

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"I lived in the center of the town of Oudenaarde (East-Flanders, Belgium), a historic city renowned for its ancient hand-woven tapestries. I was very impressed by the skills needed and the fine art behind this craft. From this background, I started searching and collecting any information I could find on materials (wool, silk,…), the tools, the colours and the patterns. I wanted to know everything about it, from design to realization."

The designs of Dorothea Van De Winkel are abstract. She realizes wall and floor tapestries, which can be wholly integrated into a house (colours, form and size). The realizations can be seen as living, stand-alone art objects, or as the center point, elementary piece or material for interior design. Furthermore, tapestry can be used in modern buildings for muting sound transmission and it adds a feeling of warmth.

Select exhibitions

2021 ATB 13 Highfield Hall & Gardens, MA, USA – January 27, 2021 – March 27, 2021

San Jose Museum of Quilts and Textiles, CA, USA - July 18, 2021-October 3, 2021

2020 The 13th International Textile Art Biennial “Scythia”, Ivano-Frankivs’k, Ukraine

2020 The Virtual Exhibition of UNESCO & MEADOWS artists against COVID-19, Beirut, Lebanon

2018 Solo Exhibition, Contemporary Tapestries, Mou Museum of Oudenaarde and Flemish Ardennes, Townhouse de Oudenaarde, Belgium

2017 7th International Biennial of Contemporary Textile Art: DIVERSITY, the SUBTE, Montevideo, Uruguay

2016 From Lausanne to Beijing, 9th International Fiber Art Biennale, Guan Shan Yue Art Museum, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China

2016 The 11th International Biennial Exhibition of Contemporary Textile Art "Scythia", Kherson, Ukraine

Select Awards

2016 Bronze Medal, Scythia, the 11 International Biennial Exhibition, Kherson, Ukraine.

2008 Excellent Price, From Lausanne to Beijing 2008, Beijing, China

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Hong Liu-Sertti

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“I have moved to Finland, lived in a Finnish-Chinese family and received art education in both countries for nearly 20 years. Over the years, my creative theme has always been freedom and love in conflict and harmony. People, birds and stamps are the main elements of my works. People are shown meticulously in the context of freehand brushwork. The bird is a metaphor for freedom. The stamp has been regarded as an important element since the composition of the painting and is closely integrated with the image. The words of the stamp include ancient Chinese poetic phrases, such as "流水香 Flowing Water Fragrant", "草惊风 Wind Blowing Grass ", etc., and some inscriptions, such as "Love" and "自由 Freedom"; there are Chinese and English as well as Finnish, such as "Running tree" and "Vapaus" and many more.

With the use of ink, color and gold foil, stamps and patterns, concrete and abstract, exaggeration and realism, I constantly transform contradictions into harmony. The forests and lakes of Finland are the backgrounds of my work. The wonderful forest contains various life forces. Everything takes its place in the crowd. The lake reflects the brilliance of various spirits. The individual's soul poured out in the silence, joyously in the constant flow. Multiculturalism gives creativity an endless drive."

Hong Liu-Sertti has had solo shows at Pori Art Museum, Finland and South China Art Museum. She has been in group shows including the Official Pavilion of Bangladesh 58th Venice Biennale as well as Art Basel Miami Beach among others.

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Peter Backhaus

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What themes does your work involve?

As I said, I work as uncontrolled and spontaneous as I can, with no plan or particular idea from the beginning. Just trying to remain in the Now as long as possible. So, from inside of me comes nothing but emptiness and life-energy without any underlying messages. On the outside it may look different, I don’t know and honestly, I try not to care. Every spectator has her or his own world to associate to, her own pair of glasses that give her ideas about what she sees and what she remembers when being confronted with my mountains of scratched, dripping paint. To me it’s just color and energy.

Describe your creative process.

Every creative process starts on the floor. On a large area of canvas, paper or wood, entranced I strive to act out myself on the surface. All tools, paints and solvents that could possibly be used are at hand in the activity area. When the process ends after an hour or two, I leave the place and let everything dry. Then a search for attraction begins. The subsequent over-paintings and adaptations are almost always in oil. The further process is sitting, looking at things, empathizing, listening to my inner voice, making decisions, remaining in the now ... each time different and unpredictable. I’ve developed this to be able to make discoveries, to be able to surprise myself.

What influences your work? What inspires you? Why do you make art?

For me painting means survival, exploring my creativity is a way to keep my mental health. My paintings are internal images. They come from a level beyond time and space, beyond the personal ego, where complete stillness and total chaos coexist. They are like layers in the archetypal landscape which are deep inside of each person, regardless of culture or color.

Art has helped me to process my personal German history. My exhibition, “Unwanted lives” in 1996 was my final effort to deal with Nazi Germany, shown in different Swedish museums. After that performance, I felt liberated from the past. It was a catharsis, the end of my mourning process. Now my inspiration comes from my inner joy to be human and a free creator of my own world, without being drifted into sentimental sweetness.

What is good art? What makes a piece of art great?

A great piece of art is always a personal statement. It has nothing to do with what it looks like but the commitment of the artist has to shine through. Then there is the aspect of communication of course. There has to be SOMETHING that is understandable, caches the eye otherwise we wouldn’t see it. For me personally, I want to be touched, I don’t have to understand, even better if I don’t and the question WHY, WHAT IS THIS? hits me strong…

What is the role of the artist today?

I don’t know what an artist’s role in society is and I find it hard to grasp that from perspective above. In different societies art has had very different roles depending on the spiritual level at any given time, the power structures, the culture, the dominating way of thinking and much more. I’m not a sociologist but for me, in our time, an artist’s actions are an important signal to his/her fellowmen to be brave, stand up for their opinion, be creative and look for the truth from a personal, subjective perspective.