Artists We Love: Carla Kranendonk

WORDS Maciek Dubla IMAGES via Stephanie Hoppen Gallery

Dutch artist Carla Kranendonk wanted to change her abstract style to fit in. Thankfully she didn’t know how.

“I stumbled on an illustration of a painting by Carla, fell in love with it, contacted her, and we had a totally rushed exhibition of her work at our gallery.”

This is how Stephanie Hoppen, owner of Stephanie Hoppen Gallery in London, describes her first encounter with Dutch artist Carla Kranendonk’s mixed-media work.

It was while cycling to school in the village Steggerda in the north of the Netherlands one day that Carla, 12 at the time, decided to embrace her passion for art. The reason was simple: Drawing and painting made her happy.

After school, she first studied at the Hogeschool voor de Kunsten Constantijn Huygens in Kampen  and then at the Rijksakademie van Beeldende Kunsten in Amsterdam. It was during her studies that she discovered her abstract painting style did, in fact, fit the traditional Dutch mould.

“During my time at the academy, I often thought about Africa, although I had never been there,” Carla says. “In 1992 I travelled to Senegal and I loved it! I was so impressed by the beauty and pride of Senegalese women, the colours and the atmosphere.”

These are the elements you can expect to find in Carla’s work. Inspired by West Africa, the Caribbean and the influence of colonisers on formerly colonised nations, Carla aims to capture the beauty, pride, strength and humour of the people who live there.

Working in mixed media, Carla prefers using different techniques and materials because of the possibilities they present and the tension it creates. She uses paints combined with fabrics, beads, found objects, photographs and photocopies to create works that are loaded with detail.