Jacqueline Bohlmeijer, beeldend kunstenaar

Openness as a State of Mind

The Playful Ceramics of Jacqueline Bohlmeijer Its title is Growing 11, but contrary to what that might lead us to suspect, this ceramic sculpture is not about a realistic representation of a plant or a tree. Jacqueline Bohlmeijer's concern is the feeling, the emotion that a plant evokes in her. Full of wonder, she tells how a tree only grows on the outside. 'The life is between the trunk and the bark.' She is surprised by the unfathomability of growth, by the hollows and knots, by the twisting tentacles of young shoots that appear so unexpectedly. In Bohlmeijer's sculpture, runners like these wave about in triumphal gestures or roll around as balled muscles, proud of the growing power with which they lay claim to their surroundings. Other works are turned more inward. Verholen (Concealed) appears fragile to the eye, with its 'stem' opened out, revealing its shadowed interior. The dragging form, with its moss green colour, reminds me of the nymph, Echo, who pined away in the forest. As she mourned her unattainable love, her body dissolved and she lived henceforth only in the form of sound. Tree, from 1999, absorbs its environment. Here, the extended splits are an invitation to come closer, to entrust long-concealed secrets to this 'listening tree'. Unlike the carved or modelled sculpture, ceramic sculpture is hollow. This has practical advantages, as the clay is less likely to crack as it dries, but Bohlmeijer has deliberately chosen the hollow form, taking full advantage of its expressive potential. By lifting forms up from the ground, or by working open the wall, so that an exchange takes place with the surrounding environment, in nearly all her work, Bohlmeijer strives for movement in space, for openness in the broadest sense of the word. Her early works are abstract, such as Samenspraak (Dialogue) or Pas de Deux, in which two contrasting forms are forged together. The one is stately and proud, the other with a 'skirt' that fans outward. They are different, yet united in their movement. Despite the abstract form, it is not difficult to recognize a 'him' and 'her' in the work and to attribute it with human qualities. Hence the title, Pas de Deux. The confrontation with the uninhibited expressions of her children reinforced her associative inclinations. Her work became more playful, a development first seen in her series of small, perforated porcelain wall lamps, entitled A Star is Shining. For Bohlmeijer, openness is a state of mind, a way of life, a mentality, a means of working that offers space for spontaneous forays and incursions, but which also leaves the viewer free to fantasize.

Anne Berk

	Openness as a State of Mind The Playful Ceramics of Jacqueline Bohlmeijer Its title is Growing 11, but contrary to what that might lead us to suspect, this ceramic sculpture is not about a realistic representation of a plant or a tree. Jacqueline Bohlmeijer's concern is the feeling, the emotion that a plant evokes in her. Full of wonder, she tells how a tree only grows on the outside. 'The life is between the trunk and the bark.' She is surprised by the unfathomability of growth, by the hollows and knots, by the twisting tentacles of young shoots that appear so unexpectedly. In Bohlmeijer's sculpture, runners like these wave about in triumphal gestures or roll around as balled muscles, proud of the growing power with which they lay claim to their surroundings. Other works are turned more inward. Verholen (Concealed) appears fragile to the eye, with its 'stem' opened out, revealing its shadowed interior. The dragging form, with its moss green colour, reminds me of the nymph, Echo, who pined away in the forest. As she mourned her unattainable love, her body dissolved and she lived henceforth only in the form of sound. Tree, from 1999, absorbs its environment. Here, the extended splits are an invitation to come closer, to entrust long-concealed secrets to this 'listening tree'. Unlike the carved or modelled sculpture, ceramic sculpture is hollow. This has practical advantages, as the clay is less likely to crack as it dries, but Bohlmeijer has deliberately chosen the hollow form, taking full advantage of its expressive potential. By lifting forms up from the ground, or by working open the wall, so that an exchange takes place with the surrounding environment, in nearly all her work, Bohlmeijer strives for movement in space, for openness in the broadest sense of the word. Her early works are abstract, such as Samenspraak (Dialogue) or Pas de Deux, in which two contrasting forms are forged together. The one is stately and proud, the other with a 'skirt' that fans outward. They are different, yet united in their movement. Despite the abstract form, it is not difficult to recognize a 'him' and 'her' in the work and to attribute it with human qualities. Hence the title, Pas de Deux. The confrontation with the uninhibited expressions of her children reinforced her associative inclinations. Her work became more playful, a development first seen in her series of small, perforated porcelain wall lamps, entitled A Star is Shining. For Bohlmeijer, openness is a state of mind, a way of life, a mentality, a means of working that offers space for spontaneous forays and incursions, but which also leaves the viewer free to fantasize. Anne Berk