Sophie Kuijken

Sophie Kuijken’s images are thought-provoking. Drawing on the language of classical painting, yet in a style akin to hyperrealism, the artist presents hybrid and mysterious works that form part of a highly distinctive approach. Indeed, the painter explores the possibilities offered by the results of internet searches. She begins by compiling a database of portraits and photographs of people of all kinds, which she then fragments and reassembles to create an image of an individual with a ‘plausible’ appearance. Finally, she reproduces this montage—here in oil and acrylic on panel—in an extremely realistic manner. The artist’s practice is a long-term endeavour; she takes the time and care to craft every detail. She explains that she feels as though she is probing the human essence, between individuality and universality, singularity and plurality. This is undoubtedly why her works appear so admirably timeless. Whether a panel from a 15th-century Flemish polyptych or an American painting from the 1960s: in this work, Eve seems to have become aware of her nakedness.

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