I'm grateful to have a family that has always been incredibly supportive when it came to my artistic life. In recent years, my father in particular started to support me in creating wooden frames for each of my artworks. Thanks to the skilled woodworker he is, each painting has a frame that was uniquely designed for its size, and painted in just the right colour.
Over the years we have been experimenting with the design of the frame and finding better hanging mechanisms as well. While with many early frames we went for a more sober and serene look, framing the wood close to the canvas, we later started creating so-called "floating frames". This new design intends to deepen the perspective and plays with the contrast of the paintings - making it truly an extension of the artwork.
Especially in times of big productions, such as I had lately with the new exhibition on Women and Water, you would find my father in the garden sawing the newest frames (probably playing some Pink Floyd in the background and with the dog at his feet!).
The frame adds a unique and familiar layer to the art piece. In the spirit of the series on Women and Water, where interconnectedness is an important theme, I can testify to the fact that our world is not a sum of individuals and institutions, but rather, a collective of relationships. People are in many ways dependent on each other, as we are constantly influencing each other's energy, actions, and thoughts. The exchange of creativity with my father to make these frames has been a huge energy booster and has become a precious part of my personal art process as well.
So here is a little note of gratefulness. For creatives like myself, the people that first believe in us, that encourage us and stimulate us to bloom in our talents, are priceless. My father has done this by showing me the process of frame-making, but so many more people around me show me daily they care about me and my work, the stories I tell with it, the future they imagine for it... And in some ways, these people become part of the artworks themselves as well.
The exhibition of the new series is currently on display at the gallery of KunstHub Bink in Elburg, under the title 'Kleur' ('Colour'), from 16 July to 1 October 2022.
For inquiries, commissions, or general interest, please feel free to reach out! tesselvdputte@gmail.com or check out my Instagram for regular updates.