Tot Zover
Twilight
In Twilight, Sarah Grothus draws the visitor into an unknown world. She does not clarify what kind of place this is. There are no identifiable spaces, no distinct landscapes or objects. What you see are grotesque figures. Archetypal characters: the elderly, children, the strong, the weak. With hard heads or soft looks. And skeletons, ghostlike figures. Hybrid creatures. Characters from another universe.
The figures do have relationships. They seek each other out and sometimes they touch each other. Is this the realm of the dead, are they our ancestors perhaps? Symbols, rituals, myths are present albeit unseen. There seems no boundary between life and death. We are in limbo between two worlds.
The artist loves unpredictability and the room that chance offers. To preserve transparancy she does not use underpaintings on the canvases. In several spots in this exhibition, works are hung in front of windows and daylight plays its own role.
Ghosts and memories
Grothus' work is created by freedom and fantasy. In the intuitive painting process she tries to conquer an unknown territory. She has no advance plans, she digs into her subconscious. This is how the artist makes connections and dissects emotions. The beings in her worlds are not all friendly, they express every facet of our character. Sweet, caring, menacing, brutal. We don't know what they are. Are they dead or alive? Are they outcasts or nomads? They may be ghosts of the dead or fragments of our own memories. We may even see the future.
About Sarah Grothus
Sarah Grothus (1984, Germany) lives and works in Enschede, The Netherlands. Freedom and intuition are key concepts in her working process. The beginning is pure improvisation, like a painterly meditation. When she paints, she goes on an inner journey of discovery, and tries, as she says herself, "to conquer an unknown territory".
Colofon
Concept and execution of artworks Sarah Grothus
Content guidance Christine van den Bergh, Buro Bradwolff
Sound art Daniel Maalman
Artwork Kees Janmaat, burokees
Installation assistance Siebe Hansma
For the exhibition texts, grateful use has been made of texts by Cees de Boer, René Gabriëls and Guus Sluiter in the book Schemering (to be published at the end of 2021).