By Allison Malafronte
There is a lot of superb contemporary realism and figurative art being made these days; this article by Allison Malafronte shines light on a gifted individual.
The Dutch artist Nick Willems (b. 1989) is making waves in his native Netherlands, and the ripples are being felt across the Atlantic in the U.S. as well. Willems uses the primitive medium of fire to burn his imagery into existence. With multiple “burned layers” built up gradually on large wood panels, the artist’s time-intensive process requires extraordinary patience, focus, and accuracy.
(It’s not just a gimmick though. In the above painting, Life Companions, the medium helps express the sense of universal impermanence and change at the primary level of being human. This medium renders meaningful beauty by damaging the surface.
In the absence of background, we’re encouraged to read the clues: the hands of the two life partners appear to be turning transparent and symbolically fading away; and the elemental medium reinforces this impression – fire destroys matter, leaving only burn-marks and ash – dust we are, and to dust we shall return. -ed.)
Nick Willems uses a blowtorch to create his moving artwork.
In 2012, feeling both frustrated and frightened, Willems was a freshman entering the Klassieke Academie voor Schilderkunst (Classical Art Academy for Painters) in Groningen, the Netherlands. He knew he needed to further his education in classical techniques but could not afford this private school’s fees.
Fast forward to 2016, when Willems not only completed its five-year curriculum thanks to a scholarship but also graduated with distinction and immediately sold one of his most ambitious pieces. He was then invited by De Twee Pauwen — a top gallery located near the palace of the Dutch king in The Hague — to become one of their Young Emerging Artists.
“Imagine, just five years earlier I was unable to pay for my studies, and then I was welcomed into this prestigious arena,” Willems marvels. “It makes me think that as long as you put in the time and effort, anything is possible.”
Nick Willems
Beyond the time and effort, Willems also possessed the fortitude to not follow the status quo, instead forging a new path and style (wedded to an authentic personal creative vision -ed.). “Because I did not have a teacher in the field of wood burning, I needed to figure it out myself through a lot of experimentation,” the artist recalls.
“I now use almost everything that is capable of getting hot, from a little burner to a big gas flame, from a lighter to a soldering iron, to ‘paint with fire.’ I am putting dozens of soft layers onto the wood panels, which creates contrast. For me, this is an exciting way of working where destruction creates new life and beauty.”
Nick Willems
The artist’s work ranges from aggressively burned cityscapes to sensitively composed homages. “Life Companions” (shown at top), which falls in the latter category, was inspired by a couple who had been married for more than 60 years.
“Unfortunately, the husband passed away just a few days after I finished the piece,” Willems shares. “A lot of my work is about impermanence — that circle between life, death, and new life. This concept is empowered by the technique I use: wood and fire. The living and the perished.”
This article was originally published in a slightly different form in Fine Art Connoisseur magazine (January/February 2019), and is sponsored by the figurative art video workshop Enhanced Life Drawing with Daniel Maidman:
EXHIBITION: From Field to Frame
Sharon Weaver, Golden Bay, oil with gold leaf, 18 x 24 in.
“From Field to Frame: The PAC6 Show How It’s Done”
Santa Paula Art Museum, California
On view through July 7, 2024
santapaulaartmuseum.org
The “PAC6 Painters” return to the Santa Paula Art Museum with an all-new exhibition, “From Field to Frame: The PAC6 Show How It’s Done.” PAC6 is a group of six women artists from Southern California who travel and paint together across the country. The artists are Linda Brown, Marian Fortunati, Nita Harper, Debra Holladay, Laura Wambsgans, and Sharon Weaver.
The PAC6 painters in Palm Springs
For PAC6, “From Field to Frame” marks ten years of collaboration, and is their third major exhibition for the Santa Paula Art Museum. The show features over 70 new landscape paintings, including scenes from the group’s most recent “bucket list” trips to the Grand Canyon and Monument Valley in Arizona, and Hope Valley and the Monterey Peninsula in California. In other paintings, the artists have revisited some of their favorite destinations from the past decade, including Yosemite, Ediza Lake, and Lake Tahoe.
Laura Wambsgans, Sun Kissed Morning
Linda Brown, Canyon Air
The exhibit also offers a peek behind the curtain of the creative processes used by the PAC6, showing each artist’s journey from a small plein air (outdoors) painting or sketch executed on location, to a final, framed masterpiece created in the studio.
