Amsterdam-based painter Femke Hiemstra has a new show of paintings at Seattle’s Roq La Rue Gallery. Seen above, “Death Of A Ghost.” The show, titled “Bonjour, Dachshund!,” is hanging alongside work by Junko Mizuno. From Roq La Rue:
Femke Hiemstra’s meticulously tight, jewel like mixed media paintings and exquisitely rendered black and white drawings are homes to a dark fairytale land where inanimate objects come to life and frolic with animal neighbors. Lollipops become ship captains, strawberries become giant wrestlers, and vegetables become Halloween gods with lantern eyes. Femke occasionally uses typography in her work, using words from various languages and letters in her paintings to further enhance the narrative while still retaining a playful sense of mystery, or as a visual device to frame in the scenery, as if you were looking at her world through a secret window. She also uses found objects to paint on, such as boxes and wrappers, to create imaginary products with magical properties.
Femke Hiemstra and Junko Mizuno at Roq La Rue