Back in February 2015, Marie-Renée Hoeks was SEAD Gallery’s very first international Artist in Residence. While her artwork was being displayed, Marie-Renée came from Amsterdam to Bryan to be with us throughout the exhibit and engage with the BCS community. We are thrilled to welcome her back for “Retrospective”, an exhibit that celebrates SEAD’s first 5 years in Historic Downtown Bryan.
Hoeks graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Utrecht in 1982, but she developed a passion for art long before that. Her family consists of famous Dutch artists in the painting and sculpture realms, and she had an art teacher that she worked with in her youth. She says she “always had paper and pencils in [her] pocket [and] developed a big passion for painting and art at an early age…[she has been] drawing and painting and tinkering as long as [she] can remember”.
Hoeks finds inspiration in nature, animals, and people, though her current work displayed in the gallery focuses on nature. Her love for both people and animals leads her to an intrigue in their behavior, movements, interactions, and overall beauty, which informs her artwork. She loves “the difficulty and beauty of finding that particular expression and try to ’catch’ that on canvas”. When she paints people, she prefers to capture them in a more abstract way, expressing these movements and interactions in colors and shapes. Hoeks describes her artistic process as a “lovely struggle”, as she cherishes the idea that her client will love her work and she wants to make it perfect for them.
When reflecting on how her work has changed since she found her passion as a child, Hoeks acknowledges that her world has greatly expanded since childhood. All of the experiences, connections, people, thoughts, and emotions that have introduced themselves into her life as her world became bigger now inform her artwork. She describes her work as a reflection of herself, with her life experience visible to the viewer through her paintings.
As Hoeks continues in her artistic journey, her goal is to become better, keep on learning, and keep the joy in painting. Come view her work in “Retrospective”, on display until March 10th.
