CURATORIAL
Most of Tessel's paintings on canvas and illustrations on paper, portray and embody feminine nudes. These shape a powerful medium to reclaim feminine energy and the female body (her 'nude') from something formerly objectified, sexualized and 'exotified', to something that is deeply connected to itself, powerful, sacred, yet laud and present. The colours and shapes of the bodies are also visual expressions of personal introspection and healing.
Both the Black and White Works, as well as the coloured canvasses from the atelier, aim at carrying out some sort of balance in light, composition and form. This illustrates the duality as well as the dynamics of masculine and feminine energy that we all carry within ourselves.
In all her works, Tessel plays with perspective and 'perception', as the shapes are often abstracted, scattered like broken mirror pieces or fluid with the environment they are depicted in (or with the other bodies of the painting). Even though we all perceive the world through one single lens (or angle), Tessel aims to depict that there is no such thing as separation. Everything - in essence - is connected with, and part of, each other.