Vera Pouw

Initially, Dutch artist Vera Pouw did not venture to be an artist but wanted to become a mathematics or an art teacher. "I was good at math and I was good at drawing, but I found the combination of both also very logical. Both require a manner of abstract thought in which you work from a thesis towards the truth. Naturally, there is no such thing as one truth. In both mathematics as well as art, you need to puzzle." In her work, this way of thinking, the puzzling, the search, is still very present. 

 

Vera does not work from a sketch or a thought-out idea of a composition, instead she starts from an experience. She visualises this experience using the human body. Although her work usually features multiple human figures, she is in fact only portraying one person in several phases of movement, pose or time. ''The first phase I always work blind. It is only after that I take a step back and I will begin to puzzle." 

 

After the first phase, Vera will start to look for a good composition and renders the work more abstract, looking for "the core." During this process, the multitude of layers, which characterises Vera's work, take shape. Working with acrylic on canvas, she applies layers, scratches in them to reveal layers underneath and from time to time, she takes some of the layers off. The result is complex, fascinating and gives her work a unique appearance.

 

Vera Pouw studied to become a teacher in drawing and textile crafts in Utrecht. Since 1995, her work has featured in several expositions across the country.