Jessica Skowroneck (1989) was born in Amsterdam but lived in Sweden most of her childhood. She studied at the HKU University of the Arts Utrecht and received a Bachelor of Fine Art with honors in 2013. In 2014 she was the winner of the Royal Award for Modern Painting in The Netherlands. Solo shows include “Land of Fools and Lovers” (2019, Galerie SANAA) and “Painting Back the Wild” (2021/2022, Galerie SANAA). She received the Artist Basic Grant from the Mondriaan Fund to further develop her work. She lives and works in the vicinity of Utrecht, regularly showing her work in The Netherlands and abroad.
Artist Statement
My recent paintings are inner landscapes. They show spaces that stand at the crossroads of the conscious and unconscious, between imagination and reality. My work is often inspired by photos or memories of the real world. By painting this world, I make it into a place of my own, a painted reality. I grew up in Sweden and nature has always been very important to me. Painting these landscapes, I began to see that they are both ‘inner’ space and ‘outer’ space. My aim is to connect the two. I’m looking for myself in nature, and for nature in myself.
The process of painting should allow for spontaneous marks and brushstrokes, colors, and forms. By working fast, I let my intuition lead the way in the studio. As a result, some paintings become more figurative, others less so. I often use the vertical format because I like the association with a door or a gate. The viewer is invited to step over an imaginary threshold into a painted realm where nothing is quite what it seems: The ground may shift, mountains might move. Rocks, rivers, and trees are beings for themselves – the personalities in these paintings with their own mysterious purpose.
