BUBBLE GILDING BY PHILIPINE VINKE
BIO
Philipine Vinke, (1968, Netherlands) works and lives in the artists village of Nunspeet and is a founding member of „The Nunspeet School‘. She plays an important role in the artist community of Nunspeet where she works and lives with her family.
She coined her innovative technique Bubble Gilding, of which first works were created in 2015. The technique evolves and flows as time passes.
Core themes in Vinke’s work center around specific social contstructs she calls ‘bubbles’. Powerful examples are national flags, the monetairy system and paradoxes in (lack of) transparency in public and private lives.
“Bubble Gilding is a technique I developed in 2015. My pieces contain 24 carat gold leaf, vast amounts of pure pigments, bubbles (secret ingredients) and resins. My latest series “Obsolete Egos’s“ are made with recyled mirrors.
I integrate modern materials, such as epoxy, with old techniques as watergilding and "verre églomisé".
Questions I ask my viewers are: What do you see? Can you see through the bubbles? Do you prefer transparancy or opaqueness? What is 'real gold' and what isn't? Which do you prefer? What are the origins of your likings?
We all live inside our own bubble. Omnipresent as bubbles are, we hardly notice them. If we do, we can decide to pop them or to accept them for what they are and where they have brought us. To enhance the importance of bubbles, I gild them.”
In order to fully appreciate the context of her ideas, Vinke strives for a symbiotic relationship between herself, her curator Kruiswijk, and her audience.
Vinke’s pieces are held in private collections internationally. Some of her pieces are created on-site in the UAE.
Dubai World Art will be the first time Vinke is exhibiting in the Middle East. On show will be pieces from her latest series “Obsolete Ego’s”, which are made from recycled European mirrors. Since part of their reflective surfaces have been removed, these mirrors represent both the reflective side of humanity as well as its transparency. Colourfull opaqueness of the epoxies complete the viewer’s brain-freeze, as the eye can not comprehend the pairing of the see-through glass with a shiny surface reflecting both the viewer and his or her current context.