She has worked close
with Lidewij Edelkoort and has been a part of the extended family of artists of
SALON/ for almost two years. Femke van Gemert revalidates lace like no one
else. Green, sustainable, serious and decorative are just a few of the comments
on her black and white installation at the Oude Kerk.
After her time at the
Hogeschool voor de Kunsten Utrecht (HKU), she graduated in 1993, she took her
belongings and left for Paris. Following her dream of becoming an artist, she
started developing prints for the world-renowned trend forecaster Lidewij Edelkoort.
A prestigious job for a graduate. She stayed for four months researching
inspirational images and making prints to eventually becoming a trend
forecaster at the Bijenkorf for twelve years. Nowadays she focuses on sight
specific projects and has years of experience as an art teacher.
What did you make for
SALON/KANT?
From old lace I have
made an installation. It is all used and lived and that makes it much more
interesting for me to use. I have a lot of old pieces from the Amsterdam
Museum, which were used in the repair studio they altered and fixed the
costumes in. The wee bits were sometimes broken, white or beige. I washed it
first and hanged it outside to dry. Looking from a distance to the clothesline
I got the inspiration. For me it was like a line of stories. As the parts came
from different costumes they represented the outfits of a variety of
characters. Like a bride, a catholic and there was also some underwear.
What else did you see?
I also saw different
associations. White is lovely and virgin, whereas black is sex and thrilling.
Because of these associations I choose to make two colours. Black and white. I
let it remain in the purest form. I just died in black and white and hanged it
in a wooden frame for people to have their own association experience with.
By Martino Bidotti
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