Statement

Karen Hendrickx is a visual artist from Belgium. Since 2017 she has been working on a series combining painting, dance and movement, for which she created the performance 'Sketches of Emotion' together with the Belgian choreographer Justine Copette. In this performance, dancer and painter play off of one another, Hendrickx’s abstract paintings spontaneously created in the moment.

Emotion is always central to Hendrickx's work. In this way she always tries to live through and intensify her subject, rather than depicting it exactly. While working, Hendrickx uses her medium in a gestural, spontaneous way, literally trying to get into the movement. This way of working is strongly influenced by her collaboration with the choreographer Justine Copette. Her choice of materials are diverse, ranging from charcoal, chalk, Chinese ink, bistre, acrylic to oil paint, which she applies to a variety of surfaces; paper, canvas, even plexiglass.

For her performances she is mainly inspired by the work of Jackson Pollock, Niki De Saint Phalle, Yves Klein and Trisha Brown. This is mainly expressed in the idea of 'the act in itself', without presupposing a certain result. Further sources of inspiration are the work of Vincent Van Gogh, Wassily Kadinsky, Alberto Giacometti, Joan Mitchel, Cy twombly, etc…

Finally, she likes to create work in public space in order to introduce the public to her work in a different way.

Method

Expression is always central in my work. I always try to intensify my subject, instead of literally mirroring it. While working, I use my medium in a gestural, spontaneous way, literally trying to get into the movement. This way of working is strongly influenced by my collaboration with the choreographer Justine Copette. My choice of materials are diverse, ranging from charcoal, chalk, chinese ink, bistre, acrylic to oil paint, witch I applies to a variety of surfaces; paper, canvas, even plexiglass. Coincidence is also an important element in my work, where I try to completely eliminate thinking and work from intuition. For me, abstraction is the best and freest way to express this. The energy that is present in my work refers both to the energy that emanates from a dance movement, as well as to the energy that is present in life itself.