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The dynamics of Ellen Rodenberg

In her artwork Ellen Rodenberg gives both a differential as well as an apt dynamic picture of her progress.

Initially the artist was self-taught and subsequently she continued at the Koninklijke Academie in Den Haag to obtain her Degree in Fine Art over a two-year period.

Besides paintings she also makes three-dimensional installations and videos; which have been frequently used in music performances in the The Hague underground scene where her videos have been shown as a part of the overall programme.

This broad range of activities appears to have consistently contributed to a painterly development, which has lead to an interesting new body of work. In the paintings the previous formal characteristics continue to prevail; they have been divided in four squares. In the four forms a different approach is used, but throughout this approach in all four the same subject or motif flows.

This subject is recognizable at times, at times only partially and in a few works it disappears from sight altogether enabling the painting to become a complete abstract geometric canvas although through the transparent layers of paint it is still possible to detect a suggestion of the original subject matter. In some instances the subject matter deals with landscapes in which the spatial referential remains. For instance: in a recent canvas the landscape is divided in four sections unto which a disco ball is painted, which in itself has again been divided in four different sections and through this process the disco ball acts as a repository. If one wonders what exactly is going on here the fist thing that becomes apparent that the internally divided and at times faded landscapes are an important and informative element in her work; as memories partially faded and tinted.

On the other hand these elements have been sufficiently incorporated that the painting can be seen as an autonomous abstract work. The cross, which divides the canvas, forms an important part in the whole picture; the four approaches, separations appear as an integral part of the canvas and structure and thereby further support each other’s context. The more flat painted canvasses strongly suggest the flag motif and its suggestive countenance makes it an important theme in the artists work.

Ellen Rodenberg has also discovered a third dimension to her work; the need to investigate her concerns with other means at her disposal such as making installations out of Styrofoam and in which she employs toys, photo’s and small dolls to make these spaces dynamic. Photographs made of these installations can act again as a source of inspiration for new paintings.

In 2004 the artist began a web log ‘MULTI-IMPRESSIELOG’ where she noted personal observations and experiences and in doing so positioned herself in a different manner in the art world.

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In the new studio in de DCR a number of things took place in the development and progress of her work. In the paintings a concentration unto two subject matters takes place. Firstly a number of used motifs in the work are erased and in doing so these abstract elements used in the process strengthen themselves The abstract elements flowing out of the motifs are used in rhythmic patterns and again in these paintings the aforementioned characteristics emerge: the canvasses are colourful, contain depth are dynamic and contain a confrontation of different picturorial elements. Conflicting ideas move and collide in the pictorial space.

Following a residency in her Cemeti Art Centre in Djokyakarta in Indonesia organised by HEDEN in 2008 Ellen Rodenberg began to use a new discipline: besides photography and making studies she began to make videos to record her observations and noticed how important national identity is in Indonesia. This identity is confirmed in public spaces through symbols as well as the public’s behaviour. This gave Rodenberg the idea to return to her theme of flags. She began to make fictitious flags containing four equal colour fields. In the first instance the flags were sown together using textiles and displayed in various public venues. She further decided to use them as projection screens and was surprised by the result as the projected video’s appeared in a filtered coloured light. They resembled fragments of memory as they surface in our minds. Back in The Netherlands she further experimented with this subject matter and edits found synchronised sound. This leads to numerous collaborations and public performances with sound artists.

Photographs taken from the video projections emerge subsequently as a source of inspiration for work to follow. Paintings with text and in a flag pattern suggest memory; filtered, coloured and fragmented. Simultaneously the paintings are completely abstract and the flag motif adds to its autonomous identity. The way in which they are worked out refers to Modernism and even further to formalistic work. This explorative way of working is extended in the current series: the separating cross moves across the surface and in doing so it causes the divided surfaces to become asymmetrical.

You could surmise and say that Ellen Rodenberg would like to be called a painter whose idea’s are formulated and executed in multiple and dynamic ways. She develops her ideas and themes in a constant state of flux and motion and through experimenting with all sorts of different media and techniques. The confrontation of her work with work done by others and her own by form a continuous challenge in her work practise. The paintings which emerge out of this process balance on the edge of figuration and abstraction which equally occurred at the time of the transitional stage of Modernism: the tension found in the opposites and the energetic research by the artist are visible in the strength of the paintings by Ellen Rodenberg.

 

Adaptation Ineke Van der Wal

Taken from the original text by Kees Koomen of October 2010.

 

 

 

 

Following a Trail, Creating Texture

 

 I don’t think Ellen Rodenberg is just playing with the dozens of objects she collected during her residency in Jogja, after I observed the way how she arranges the various plastic toys, such as toy soldiers, tanks, cars, motorcycles, trees, flags, etc., on her worktable. Her methods recall the joys of a child in selecting whatever she likes and placing them into positions. This, collecting various objects that caught her fancy, was the first thing Ellen did upon arriving in Jogja.

 

It was interesting when Ellen, an artist born in Amsterdam in 1955, shared her worktable with her children. It is probable that we, adults, would be annoyed with sharing the space, because the objects Ellen collected were similar to her children’s toys. However, Ellen partitioned the table, drawing a clear boundary between her children’s playing area and her own art space. This proves she was not just playing, as she was busy arranging and rearranging, repositioning the various objects, while trying to identify them and understand their symbols and meanings. Ellen is currently conducting historical research on these objects that she will present as footnotes. There is a deep conviction to follow the history of these objects. For instance, the swastika is a Nazi symbol associated with the terrifying and oppressive Hitler regime. However, this is not the symbol’s meaning for which Ellen is searching; rather, she is focusing on the other meanings and relevancies that developed and are used in other contexts. The swastika is also a devotional symbol for the Hindus. These contrasting and contradictory meanings become the base for Ellen’s research. She focuses her attention on the diverse perspectives of a symbol. In essence, she wants to prove that any one symbol does not belong to any specific group, language, or discourse, but rather a symbol can have different meanings, uses and rites in different contexts. Ellen’s background in painting explains how she views these objects in two and three dimensions.

 

At this point, I see Ellen’s unique artistic language. I think her experience in conducting this unusual exploration provides a valuable opportunity to witness the process behind a final product. The stability of painting conventions that represent two dimensions on a canvas seem to be shattered by Ellen’s exploration process. For her, process represents the basic foundation of the final product. She demonstrates how a miniature landscape of flags must be seen from two visual aspects, i.e., flat and three-dimensional. Ellen’s artworks are explorations of thought and intuition, a balance between mind and soul. Sometimes, she intuitively seizes objects she finds without needing any previous intense contemplation.

 

The final result of this process is an installation in the Cemeti Art House exhibition space. This is Ellen’s painting. Not a two-dimensional painting, but one with volume that fills the space. Various compositions of objects are spread out; some in miniature form, others that have been magnified. Dragon Ball, as a hero from a Japanese comic series, is present in life-size form, in the four corners of the simulation arena. The Dragon Ball character and a number of other objects were chosen because they are cartoon figures and are associated with strength or can be perceived as metaphors of authority.

 

This Landing Soon #7 project has enticed Ellen to become familiar with, understand, or, to be more specific, play, with the similarities and differences of cultural symbols. Three months is too short to understand the cultural milieu of Yogyakarta, as the heart of the Mataram kingdom, which has a long history in the crossroads of Javanese traditions, diverse religions and the formation of a modern society. Of course, one of the unique features is how the colonial Dutch presence in the past remains in buildings, language and various cultural practices. Ellen is aware of this past from the Netherlands, a European country that has complex history. Differences, similarities and various relationships in the past form a kind of collective memory that can be recalled, forgotten, or become a symbol ready to be deconstructed. These symbols may at one time have been sacred signs of reverence and nobility, but now have assumed totally opposite meanings. Symbols are the most articulate signs of a perspective or ideology. The use of symbols in society represents a kind of undivided bond. The presence of these symbols is a way of identifying and marking an existence. The need for the presence of these symbols is as old as humanity, homo symbolicum.

 

During the period of her residency in Jogja, Ellen became aware that following the trails of symbols was one way to get to know a new place, space and culture – both universal symbols, such as the popular Dragon Ball, who everyone knows, regardless of territorial boundaries and national ideologies, as well as symbols used actively in local contexts in Yogyakarta.

 

This can be seen in the documentary photos and videos Ellen recorded of various monuments, landscapes, plants, animals, and people that she felt were potentially both similar and different. This recording process took place not only in Yogyakarta, but also when she visited and made presentations in Solo and Semarang. Symbols, in the context of Ellen’s search, are like a spider’s web. The symbols exist in a structure and are experienced culturally. One symbol is like a footnote for a supra-structure. I think Ellen stops here. She guides us to the face of this symbolic structure. Perhaps “symbolic texture” is more accurate. As texture, it becomes a composition. We can see this in a number of two-dimensional painting fields, where colors and lines form specific symbolic contours. What is Ellen searching for through this long process that involves interpretation and duplication of various signs? I think Ellen is one who ponders.

 

Beneath her methods in learning about a new place and culture, there is another underlying process, as if she wants to redefine herself as a “new symbol” in various forms of language play that are constantly in the process of evolving

A.    Sujud Dartanto 2008

(tekst: Landing Soon #7 catalogue)