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CHRYSTL RIJKEBOER
Velsen, The Netherlands, 21 januari 1959.
Education: From 1994-1998 at 'Willem de Kooning Academie', Rotterdam.
Graduated in 1998 Autonoom 3D.
Lives and works in Haarlem, the Netherlands.
Work
The theme of my work is astonishment about human life.
Key point is the life-cycle: from birth and innocence, till development to maturity and guilt. Into my works I emphasize the concepts; influencing and consciousness raising.
My work is figurative and recognisable but shape and proportions are not necessarily correct or 'beautiful', what matters is the sensation they evoke. You can always view my work in two ways: kind, pleasant and innocent, or frightening, condemning and guilty.
The reason I work with human hair is that hair has symbolic significance: beauty, strength, health, attraction, etc. The moment it is separated from the human all these factors turn around, hair is considered dirty, unsavoury and dead.
Hair is also an important indicator of our life, as well in the past as in the present.
- Hair shows us when we reach maturity (pubic-, chest- and armpit hair) and also shows us when we reach the menopause (we become grey and bold). It shows our age and health.
- With our hair/hairstyle we emphasize our identity.
- Hair has always been a hot item at spiritual/religious- and at social issues.
For example: in fairytales and legends, in women's oppression, in the persecution of the Jews, as acts of protest against the prevailing standards and nowadays in the dilemma of the headscarf related to moslim-fear.
My work is developing more into my vision about the vulnerability of the human, both physical as psychological. By the way we are influenced and manipulated in life, and by our opinions and our surroundings (our environment, the media and the globalization of the world).
My greatest source of inspiration is everyday life; my personal point of view compared to the public opinion, represented by television, the news and the newspapers, to put it briefly, how it is interpreted and manipulated by the media.
Working with human hair made me aware of the knowledge that each hair contains the DNA of an individual person, which I manipulate very literally in my own, personal way.
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Exhibitions
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