Machteld Aardse

statement

"Machteld Aardse’s work, in all its versatility, shows a recurring fascination for the performativity of drawing. To Aardse, a drawing is always more than a depiction of the world, a drawing is an intervention in the world. By sitting down with a sheet of paper and a bunch of pencils or crayons and asking someone to strike a pose, a small, intimate theatre comes into being: the person portrayed tries out different poses, a dialogue unfolds, time passes. By means of videos, installations and performances, Aardse then explores the implications of the 'drawing scene' and what is revealed after the portrait is completed. A finished portrait always shows more than just the person portrayed and the way she wants to present herself to the world. By hanging a portrait somewhere, or by simply giving it to the person who just has been drawn, a second scene emerges. We are now not just confronted with the fantasies, desires and fears of the individual who is being subjected to the artist’s gaze, we are also being confronted with how these feelings are embedded in a concrete social context" - Yasco Horsman