Artist Interview | Hildegarde Handsaeme

Independent & Image Art Space
Jul 2, 2020 3:20AM

Independent & Image Art Space: From what time did you feel you should express yourself with art, especially with painting? Were there any specific events inspired you to do it?

Hildegarde Handsaeme: What I can remember is that as a small child (about 5 years old) Isaw Picasso's work. I was very impressed by this and the works got stuck inline. At a later age, when I was in school, I remember a student in the class and his father was a painter, I made myself wondering how happy that painter should be! I also always liked to sign. Many years later, when I was 32 years old,I made my first drawing in a large format!

Lekiss, acrylic on canvas, 70x50x4cm, 2020

Independent & Image Art Space: We can always find female figures in your paintings, which deliver the message of love and tenderness. To you, what are the meanings of the theme(the female figures)?

Hildegarde Handsaeme: The woman is important to me. The natural biological construction of the woman is a real gift for creating new lines. A man is straight and therefore does not give as many options. With the feminine line I can go in all directions, it is endless. Moreover, the woman has always been central to the care, affection, concern and tenderness over the centuries, moreover, she is a very strong being. These are valuable properties that are much more dominant in the woman and this may therefore be accentuated.

Flying Lovers, acrylic on canvas, 100x80x4cm, 2011

Independent & Image Art Space: In an art world dominated by male artists, do you think is it necessary to identify yourself different from them, as a female artist? If yes, what are the differences in terms of art?

Hildegarde Handsaeme: As in almost all professions, it is also more difficult for women to manifest themselves in the art world. Men are taken more seriously.

Etude, acrylic on canvas, 100x80x4cm, 2011

Independent & Image Art Space: Could you please let us know what's your work-day like?

Hildegarde Handsaeme: My day starts with a quiet breakfast and news. Afterward, I check my emails and a lot of time is put into promoting myself online. When a new work is made, there is still a lot of time to make a good photo that needs to be further edited to be posted online. In the afternoon some sketches are put on paper. Depending on the day to day, a constructive line is quickly or not quickly found that seems to be worth developing further. The sketch is then enlarged on a larger sheet of paper to finally bring a final design on good paper. The making of a painting is done in the same way, except that the sketches are only drawn on a medium-sized paper. Itis therefore not so easy to draw the design in large format. Afterward, find out which colors combine best. Painting a canvas takes many days, especially when one strives for perfection to display the colors as evenly as possible. This requires many layers and white is a very difficult color to get even. My day ends with checking emails again and replying to them.

L'Oiseau de Liberté, acrylic on canvas, 100x80x4cm, 2016

Independent & Image Art Space: What do you paint recently? Do you have any new working plan?

Hildegarde Handsaeme: My last painting is Amourette. Finding a new line is always a fun challenge.

Online exhibition link: https://www.independentimage.org/

Independent & Image Art Space