With “Dark Matter,” Martine Johanna offers a new collection of stirring acrylic paintings that blend portraiture and abstraction. The show, running through June 23 at KochxBos Gallery in Amsterdam, is an autobiographical exploration of femininity, adolescence, and the place of women in Western culture. Johanna was last featured on HiFructose.com here.
“When I started working, large, threatening, abstract shapes of darkness appeared,” the artist says, in a statement. “As a child I once made friends with the shadows in my room, and today, in a similar manner, I enter a relationship with all aspects of myself that I find unpleasant. These forms create a positive dialogue, with the introspective (child) woman and her experiences, in swirling colour masses.”
See more of the work in the show below.
Kushana Bush is known for her packed, figurative gouache paintings, with influences from traditional Mughal and Persian miniatures, the Italian Renaissance, Japanese ukiyo-e, and beyond converging. Recent work takes a singular—yet still dynamic—approach. The New Zealand artist infuses contemporary reflections and interactions into each corner of her works, each containing several narratives worth investigating.