Svelte Thys Ijsberen
Svelte Thys (b. 1998, Duffel) is, in her own words, “a pacing chicken”. “Ijsberen” is the act of constantly coming and going, usually associated with nervousness or boredom. The word is derived from a behavior specific to animals in captivity. Due to very limited exercise space and a lack of stimuli, many animals develop the habit of doing the same trick over and over again. For Svelte, however, pacing is a positive thing. It’s about “thinking through the painting represented”. Going back and forth between different images, constantly returning to, revisiting, rethinking and taking the time to grasp something, or to not grasp it. Her rhythm is not the result of a lack of stimuli, but rather the persistent processing of numerous sensory stimuli, impressions initially acquired in the landscape of her childhood, the beautiful and untouched nature along the Grande Nèthe in her native village of Itegem. Memories of paths that have been travelled many times, walks that the artist has since carried with her, ready to be explored once more in her souvenirs. Like a happy homecoming, many visual elements in Svelte’s paintings, such as the titles, refer to a special place in this landscape: “the meadow”, her own little Arcadia, a piece of garden with a pond, a home for chickens and ducks. She returns each time with a different perspective, stepping between then and now, the precious memories of playful moments mingling with the new perspectives of today.
Svelte’s abstract paintings zoom in on the landscape, not as an exact representation, but rather as a suggestion, a resonance. In response to what she calls “superficiality,” she consciously communicates a “haze.” In doing so, the artist hopes to trigger a thought process in the viewer, who will continue to involuntarily look for something they recognize. Thus, for Svelte, painting is like a language with which she connects. With her paintings, she wants to convey a feeling, an “abstract emotion” as the Canadian-American abstract painter Agnes Martin called it, the unrepresentable emotion one feels when contemplating nature. Svelte’s favorite work, Watervalbeklimmer, was inspired by Martin’s 1976 film Gabriel, which shows a little boy walking along a river in the mountains. Like Svelte, Martin zooms in on nature, in her case the vast landscape of northeastern New Mexico, a place where she lived for nearly ten years. Shot from behind, we don’t see the boy’s expression, but it is reflected in the extended close-ups of the river, trees and flowers.
In experimenting with paint and other materials, Svelte does not seek to create any one image. She has a strong preference for structure. Paintings are not meant to be flat, “the material must cooperate with the image,” she says. When she mixes oil paint with talcum powder, the talcum powder helps to draw the oil out of the paint, leaving only the pure pigment. The result is a matte finish, but “it’s as if you can get deeper into the paint.” Svelte’s work is about the paint itself. It is an exploration of its properties and limitations, an exploration of how paint itself can become an image. This series of new works by Svelte Thijs is a stroll through subjects and memories, a request from the artist to the viewer and to herself to be able to come back and take her time, to pace herself.
Roxane Bayens
- Location
- Brussels
- Date
- —
Selected Images
Selected Images
Svelte Thys Spinnenwebpaardenbloempluis, 2023
Inquire26 x 18 cm
Svelte Thys Een heel klein beetje regen, 2022
Inquire29,5 x 38,5 cm
Framed Belgian oak
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Svelte Thys Sneeuwwater, 2018
Inquire24,5 x 34 cm