about
I was born in Berkeley, California in 1970 and have lived and worked as an artist in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, since 1995. My first studio was in the Amsterdam Nieuwmarkt neighborhood, the same area where Rembrandt lived and painted. Inspired by this incredible history, I painted realistic portraits in oil paint and learned as much as I could about traditional painting techniques. In 2015, after completing more than 130 commissioned artworks, including sixty works for the permanent collection of the Amsterdam Jewish Historical Museum, I began to feel a deep desire to take my work to the next level.
To help myself reach this goal I enrolled in the full time studio art program at Wacker's Academie. Working with the well known artist Sam Drukker as my mentor I started a body of work in which I paint guns to look like landscapes. As the wife of a soldier, the violent nature of humans is an unavoidable topic in my life. In these "Gunscapes" I attempt to strip guns of their inherently violent function by abstracting them and transforming them into something else.
A short film about my graduation work from Wacker's Academie 2019
History
- Currently teaching drawing and painting lessons at Cultuurhuis Wherelant in Purmerend and Atelier Groeten van Marc in Amsterdam.
- Currently I have created more than one hundred and thirty commissioned artworks for American and European private collectors and the Amsterdam Jewish Historical Museum.
- 2018 Started the series of “Gunscape” paintings in November.
- 2015 - 2019 Full time art student at Wackers Academie, Amsterdam.
- 2006 - 2007 Created artworks for the Amsterdam Jewish Historical Museum’s permanent exhibition for children. (See Expositions.)
- 2000 - 2005 Researched and experimented with traditional paint-making techniques. Worked on creating thixotropic paint based on spectrometric analysis of paint samples from Rembrandt's work.
- 2002 Worked with Richard Keijlewer painting psychedelic murals in Cafe Get Down To It, Amsterdam.
- 2000 Painted two portraits designed and commissioned by artist Ram Katzir that appeared in the Van Loon Museum’s Exposition “Home is where the heArt is,” Amsterdam.
- 1999 - 2000 Painted twenty-nine commissioned artworks for the exhibition “In Mokum Staat een Huis,” Amsterdam Jewish Historical Museum. The exposition received the Prins Bernard Cultuurfonds Prijs. (See Expositions.)
- 1998 - 2011 Worked on portrait commissions, taught art lessons, hosted model drawing sessions and participated in open studio routes.
- 1997 Received an art grant from the Drury Foundation which funded my first studio in Amsterdam, situated around the corner from the Rembrandthuis Museum.
- 1995 Immigrated from the USA to the Netherlands
- Born May 19, 1970 in Berkeley, California, USA
Education
- 2015 - 2019 - Wackers Academie, Amsterdam, Netherlands. Completed a four year full time studio art program in drawing, sculpture, painting and art history and theory. One year independent study with Sam Drukker.
- 1990 - Stanford University, Palo Alto, California. Summer courses in philosophy and film.
- 1988 - 1992 - BA from Vassar College, Poughkeepsie, New York. Independent major in Existential Philosophy and Theatre of the Absurd. Studio art courses with Ann Daly and Harry Roseman.
Expositions
- 2023 Kunst Achter de Bar, Solo, Cultuurhuis Wherelant, Purmerend
- 2022 Insecten Expo, De Grote Kerk, Monnikendam
- 2021 2b Kunstmarkt Amsterdam
- 2021 Ode aan het Noord-Hollandse Landschap, Purmerends Museum, Purmerend
- 2021 Reflections, Galerie de Beuken, Laren
- 2021 The Turning Point, Vrijpaleis. Amsterdam
- 2021 Landelijk Atelierweekend, Amsterdam
- 2020 Visitekaartjes, Galerie Paterswolde, Paterswolde
- 2020 Patronen, Grote Kerk, Monnikkendam
- 2020 In( )side Transformative Art Exposition, Vrij Paleis, Amsterdam
- 2020 Corona Archives Passage, Nieuw Dakota, Amsterdam
- 2019 Figuratief Now!, De Boterhal, Hoorn
- 2019 Graduation Exposition, Wackers Academie, Amsterdam
- 2019 Group expo, Galerie De Beuken, Laren
- 2019 Wackers Academie Exposition of Small Works, Amsterdam
- 2018 Rendering Likeness, group exposition of contemporary portraiture, La Bodega Gallery, Brooklyn, NY.
- 2018 Pieta Painting Exposition in conjunction with Zingis Choir performances in Zeist and Driebergen
- 2017 Wackers Tuin student exposition, Amsterdam
- 2017 Cafe Zamen expo for 24H Noord, Amsterdam
- 2017 Halte Zamenhofstraat Open Ateliers
- 2017 Wackers Student Exposition
- 2017 Summer Show, Nieuw Dakota, Amsterdam
- 2017 Schilderfestival Noordwijk
- 2017 Slordig Schilderen Exposition, Wackers Academie
- 2016 Portrettenparade 2016, Amsterdam
- 2016 Expo at Beats on a Boat, De Ceuvel, Amsterdam
- 2016 Student Exposition, Wackers Academie
- 2016 Pintar Rapido painting contest, Amsterdam
- 2016 Schilderfestival Noordwijk
- 2016 Pop Up Expo, Zamenhofstraat Studio, Amsterdam
- 2016 Wackers Student Exposition, Amsterdam
- 2007 - present Amsterdam Jewish Historical Museum. Worked on nineteen paintings, numerous painted sculptures, and a doll’s house, created together with artist Ram Katzir for the ongoing exposition for children, Joods Museum Junior.
- 2005 Two expositions in the Bibliotheek Pintohuis, Amsterdam
- 2005 Solo exposition in Cafe Bern, Amsterdam
- 2002 - 2019 Psychedelic murals in Cafe Get Down To It, Amsterdam, created together with Richard Keijlewer
- 2000 - 2006 Amsterdam Jewish Historical Museum. Created twenty-nine oil paintings together with artist Ram Katzir, which appeared in the first version of the Children's Museum. The exposition won the Prins Bernard Cultuurfonds Prijs and received funding for a permanent Children's Museum.
- 1999 Van Beek Watercolor Competition Expo, 2nd place prize winner
- 1998 - 2006 Participated in Amsterdam Nieuwmarkt and Zamenhof Open Ateliers
In front of a large Gunscape painting.
At Galerie de Beuken in Laren with three Ovum paintings, 2019
Group exposition Figurative Now! in De Boterhal, Hoorn, 2019
A selection of works created with Ram Katzir currently at the Amsterdam Jewish Historical Museum.
Copyrights Ram Katzir.