Caroline Westerhout

Spielerei Mixed Media Portrait Girl Oil Paint In Stock

circa 2018

Caroline Westerhout (Weert, the Netherlands, 1970) studied Reproduction Drawing at the Graphic Lyceum in Eindhoven. After her studies she started working as a graphic designer. Around 2000 she started to delve into oil paint, which, through various emotional experiences and practice, resulted in a strong, own style. Caroline uses that style to study, understand and express emotions, often through her own face. Caroline Westerhout's oeuvre often consists of portraits, but not in the traditional sense of the word. Although she is an avid practitioner and lover of classical painting techniques, she finds it exciting to engage in the experiment. This gives her work an undeniably contemporary look. She alternates figuration with raw, abstract elements, she plays with deformation and perspective. She also finds it interesting to create duality in terms of paint skin: refined, realistic parts of the face - eyes and mouths - in combination with coarse keys and strokes and less elaborate surfaces. This combination of styles and techniques creates movement, emotion and an exciting alienation. With her work, she invites her audience to participate in her analysis of emotions, the way she feels and understands them. The spectator is drawn into this quest and finds the answers that suit him or her. One can try to look behind someone else's skin, but will never really succeed. Caroline joins other artists, such as Cindy Sherman, who also reminds us of our prejudices. Her theme is timeless and with her amazing technical skills, her work has a universal appeal. The penetrating eyes and transparency of human skin are painted so lifelike that the characters seem to come to life.