Artist Statement:
My paintings are like monsters of Frankenstein.
I start by collecting images, like a grave digger looking for dead bodies.
These images are often drawings that I call my darlings. I made most of these darlings while going through a rather peculiar childhood. But then something happened, and I killed my darlings. When I brought them back to life, they became monsters—like the monster of Frankenstein. I cut my darlings to pieces and then I collage them back together to create a new image. Now, I call my paintings: ‘Phoenix Images’.
Phoenix Imagery
Féline Minne calls her canvases "Liquid Identities" and paint "Identity Liquid". Liquid Identity is a concept in sociology and fits within the context of the artist’s humane attitude, in which she emphasizes the importance of fluidity of identities and ways of life. At the same time, shaping identity is something for which she can use the fluid colors on canvas. The concept of liquid identity is also important for Féline Minne on a personal level. For example, she chose her name and her date of birth as a symbol of reunification with herself.
The paintings of Féline Minne are dreamy revisions of shreds of life and identity. When she was a child looking for a way to deal with the rather peculiar context in which she lived, she designed an imaginary universe with different characters. She now cuts her memories and early drawings to pieces, then puzzles them back together and creates a new image. In this way she designs fictional worlds and imaginary spaces and environments instead of stories. This method of reworking became the starting point of her early artistry and continues to this day.
True to the cycle of her creative process, images from the nomadic life are reflected on canvas. She has seen a large part of the world, obtained an MA in painting at The Royal College of Art in London, moved to New Zealand and moves from one artist's residence to another.
Roaming from studio to studio has its roots in Féline's interest in magical realism, daydreaming and wandering thoughts. These three principles are therefore characteristic of her work and ensure a certain absurdity when building a composition. Féline does not find it interesting if she knows in advance what an image will look like in the end. “I don't have a clear picture of what a canvas will be in advance. For me, painting is like looking at the clouds. I have an idea in my head, but that changes over time, just like those clouds. ”
In her work she emphasizes the nonsense and arbitrariness of life. You have to take a moment to analyze the different layers in her works on the one hand and to see the whole of the puzzle on the other. Her canvases are daydreams that unfold further in the perception of the viewer. The titles of the paintings also connect the whole to an absurd poem: “Let me tell you who I am, I am the lover of the fish in the sky, I threw it into the source of memory, A magic wishing well, It Escaped."
All in all, Féline's dreamy paintings are expressions of stories and emotions, represented through absurd symbolism and humor that reveal an interest in the nonsensical. Through the creative process her works point in all directions and have neither beginning nor end. While her canvases may be based on fragments from the distant and recent past, they are also places where she can escape, resurrect and build an identity. And we are invited to walk through her multivocal world of imagination.
Yasmin Van ‘tveld
(article first appeared in Kluger Hans)
Tetris
Féline Minne builds her work mainly around characters she created in her early youth. It’s a fictive world she modeled a long time ago, back when she was looking for a way to cope with the rather peculiar reality she was living in as a child. Her dreamlike canvasses are an expression of her stories and emotions, brought through absurd symbolism and humor.
She’s deeply interested in the nonsensical. Just like the road signs in Alice in Wonderland, her work points in all directions. The images show stories without beginnings or endings. The Stairs lead to nowhere and everywhere. The paintings mean nothing and everything. She sees herself as an image-maker. She finds imagery meaningful in its own right. In her opinion, art is about transformation and escaping into self-made worlds and inviting people in.
The artist is constantly looking for a feeling of wonder. She welcomes randomness. Randomness like a roll of the dice in Luke Reinhardt’s novel, The Dice Man. Her way of composing an image is informed by the big bang and how atoms behave randomly. In the artist’s words, ‘I started making collages while I was studying animation filmmaking. I made cut-out animations. I like the idea of a puzzle.’
Her interest in play can be seen in her series of paintings called Tetris. She is serious about the importance of play and often refers to Donald Winnicott’s theories about play and reality. ‘It has been proven that playing Tetris helps people with post-traumatic stress syndrome. Tetris is like life. A lot keeps coming at you, and you have to give it all a place. Sometimes, there is not enough time. Then the bricks accumulate and holes appear in-between the rows. If it works well, a few rows disappear and that feels great, it evokes a feeling of release and relaxation.’
Her paintings are about the tension between the figurative and abstract. There will never be an end to art history. Art history is a never-ending story.’
Sketchbooks from Feline Minne on Vimeo.