Takeover: #113 - Zaida Oenema
Zaida Oenema: Instagram / Website
#113 (11/5 - 17/5 2020) written by Anisa Demirci and Cheyenne Pattiwaël
Zaida Oenema got her BA Photography at KABK and MA Photography at St. Joost, but in her current practice, this educational background doesn’t define who she is and what she creates. She had the desire to work more with her hands and with the tactility of a material.
Zaida makes art out of necessity. It is one of the few things that makes sense to her. The outdoors and small things, the ordinary, the temporary, the invisible, inspire her. Moments of everyday, that appear and disappear again, like raindrops, shadows or the drifting patterns of grass.
Her artworks always show an abundance of relievo and end up looking like they are growing out of the flatness of a surface. Together with the natural light, they create shadows, through different depths and heights. The result is an interplay between light, shadows, movement, structure and texture.
Zaida views her artworks as being music scores, they show a certain grid and continuation. Repetition, focus and concentration are all key elements for the creation process of her pieces. The repetitive, meticulous actions generate focus and make the concentration visible to the viewer as well.
In these actions, Zaida strives after perfection, but the human hand is not as steady as a machine. The vibration of her hand is the melody. To allow these imperfections, is to create the melody, to make the artworks come to life.
By treating her artworks as conversation pieces, she strives to create a momentum, between the work and the spectator. It effectuates something that is between speech and silence, becoming still. That stillness allows you to be more receptive and aware to what you see.
“I hope to stimulate people to be still for a moment, more aware of the things around them.”
Zaida makes art out of necessity. It is one of the few things that makes sense to her. The outdoors and small things, the ordinary, the temporary, the invisible, inspire her. Moments of everyday, that appear and disappear again, like raindrops, shadows or the drifting patterns of grass.
Her artworks always show an abundance of relievo and end up looking like they are growing out of the flatness of a surface. Together with the natural light, they create shadows, through different depths and heights. The result is an interplay between light, shadows, movement, structure and texture.
Zaida views her artworks as being music scores, they show a certain grid and continuation. Repetition, focus and concentration are all key elements for the creation process of her pieces. The repetitive, meticulous actions generate focus and make the concentration visible to the viewer as well.
In these actions, Zaida strives after perfection, but the human hand is not as steady as a machine. The vibration of her hand is the melody. To allow these imperfections, is to create the melody, to make the artworks come to life.
By treating her artworks as conversation pieces, she strives to create a momentum, between the work and the spectator. It effectuates something that is between speech and silence, becoming still. That stillness allows you to be more receptive and aware to what you see.
“I hope to stimulate people to be still for a moment, more aware of the things around them.”