Co Westerik
Pointing at the wound
2016
tempera, alkyd and oil on panel
50 x 65 cm
source: Fergus McCaffrey Gallery
Saskia de Marée
De lijn
2024
oil paint on linen
20 x 25 cm
In Co Westerik’s (1924-2018) works, I discover a remarkable depth of layers. Layers in which nature and humanity are transformed into fragile truths. And also layers of paint, a uniquely personal way of applying paint in many layers, from which the final image ultimately emerges.
The work feels very fragile and tactile, and continues to surprise with its idiosyncratic way of thinking and imagination.
The rounded forms and subdued colors abstract his figuration and soften his subjects. I find it most beautiful when the figuration recedes and the layered and blended colored dots, planes, and stripes take over, forming a breathing, mystical whole.
When René Korten approached me for his blog 'Nothing But Good', I was reminded of Co Westerik’s work, certainly because of the qualities of his art, but also because I have recently been, and still am, in a long-term recovery process following surgery on my foot. That feeling of being small and vulnerable is very much expressed in his work, as is the grandeur of nature of which we are all a part.
In my own painting practice, I explore aspects of organic forms, environments, and still lifes, while also seeking a reversibility, twists in understanding or in what one sees. For example, I have created series of works in which the landscape is treated as an object, and contrasting works in which the object is approached in a landscape-like, almost geographical manner.
These are shifts in both painterly and thematic aspects; the work is about boundaries and the desire to push beyond them. It is also purely about painting and abstraction, in which space is created within the depicted image for renewed meaning.
Saskia de Marée, 2026
Co Westerik
Vinger tussen grassen
2010
tempera, alkyd and oil on linen
70 x 93 cm
source: www.westerik.nl
Saskia de Marée (NL)
Hay (from the series the object as a landscape)
2025
mixed media on linen
50 x 60 cm
