Untitled 1996

This Untitled work, by Ilse D'Hollander, is likely an oil on canvas with dimensions of 70 x 56 cm. Looking at how D'Hollander puts down these colors, one can see it’s all about the process of artmaking: feeling her way through the act of painting. The surface of this painting is something else - it’s not about showing off brushstrokes. The paint application is thin in some areas, thick in others, and the way the colours mix is subtle. I can tell that she is using different brushes and tools to smear the paint in some areas, and in others the paint is clearly dabbed on to create a texture. See that dark vertical stripe in the centre? Look how it almost dissolves into a series of white smudges, like the memory of a form fading in and out. It's this dissolving effect which resonates throughout the piece. The work of Milton Avery comes to mind. Like him, D'Hollander leaves space for ambiguity and lets the viewer decide what they are seeing.