been everywhere, seen everything

been everywhere, seen everything

rolina nell


rolina nell


about my project

For the year of 2007 I allowed the unlimited influence of the outside world on my working process. I planned to travel and paint for a year and work in a number of artist residencies all the way from Eastern Europe through the Middle East and on to Asia. During my overland trip from, and then back to, the Netherlands I made photographs and drawings. These served as inspiration for my work at the artist residencies.

artist residenciesI participated in six artist residencies with approximately one month’s travel time in between each one. The time spent in each residency allowed me to give visual form to the impressions and inspirations gained from my research during each leg of the journey. My choice of countries; Bulgaria, Georgia, Iran, India, China and Latvia resulted from a mixture of curiosity about cultural differences as well as my interest in women and the way they manifest themselves in relation to their social environment. Additionally, I travelled overland to the different resi-dencies to experience the gradual transformation from one culture to the next. It seemed to me that the variety of artist residencies would be an interesting way to further deepen and develop my work. At the conclusion of each residency I exhibited the work accomplished during the residency. I was pleased to give a work to the country where the original inspiration came from. ‘lost and found’ is the title of the series of donated paintings.

weblogMaintaining contact with the Netherlands during my travels was important in order to foreground awareness of the fact that, although I made my art during 2007 in another reality, I never the less, inevitably did it from my own cultural context. To that end I devised a fax project. During 2007 my weekly Friday column (a black and white drawing) arrived by fax to an artists’ initiative in the Netherlands. My photographs, paintings, sketches, drawings, Friday column, etc. are all digitized and available on my weblog. Keeping this blog was not only important for maintaining contacts, but also for the awareness it gave me of my own process. It also allowed me to see my process from another perspective.

catalogueI have concluded my travels with a selection of my residency paintings in this catalogue and an exhibition titled: ‘been everywhere, seen everything’.

Rolina Nell


about my work

In Garikula we were moved by the committed work approach and professionalism of Rolina Nell as she ap-proached imaging of a new context while in residence in Garikula. The style of work close to traveler’s diary produced pieces that flowed in, similar to movie frames, charged by artist’s expectations and search of subtle relationships found in specifics of a foreign country. Seemingly monochromatic they conveyed the feeling and character of the place, very well in the ‘Laundry’ series. Garikula and Georgia were seen as we did not see it before. The social conditions of inhabitants of the village had been addressed from an angle that allowed percep-tion of different cultural perspective, quite useful to the hosts. The thematic of work as well as colour palette was interesting to see for Georgian artists attending the exhibition on a final day of the residency.Karaman KutateladzeArt Villa Garikula, Garikula, Georgia

Rolina is an accomplished painter and during her stay in Iran she was able to create a new collection of pain-tings. In the end she prepared several installations on Pirozi Street (East Tehran). Her art was unusual in for this very traditional neighborhood and in turn generated significant attention and questioning. Rolina’s artwork, be it painting or installation, is often an effective medium for social communication. Ahmad NadalianParadise International Art Centre, Tehran, Iran

Rolina’s paintings has a distinct freshness and life into it. Each piece of work depicts scenes from day-to-day life and they all seem to crawl out of canvas and come to life. Her work is like looking at real-life images of everything going around us.Puja ShahKanoria Centre for Arts, Ahmedabad, India

The art of Rolina Nell, reminiscent of lost childhood memories. A sense longing to be apart of another world, another time. Paintings of intimate objects expressing humanity. Her travels have allowed her to capture and connect the qualities of life. With simple brush strokes and a strong sense of color her paintings engage you on an emotional level, revealing the human conditions from her travels and journey.Mylissa FitzsimmonsLittleBird Gallery, Los Angeles, United States of America

acrylic on canvas100 x 130 cm

‘t wasgoed

hungary

laundry series


‘t wasgoed

romania

acrylic on canvas

‘t wasgoed

140 x 200 cm

bulgaria

acrylic on canvas

chamashir

turkey

140 x 100 cm


sareckhi

georgia

acrylic on canvas

nathalia’s laundry

georgia

130 x 190 cm


sukata kapda

india

acrylic on canvas

georgia

140 x 90 cm

butterfly

women series


bahar and leila

iran


golnar and yalda

iran


cocoon

iran


market

india


horizon

india


day’s to come

india

acrylic on canvas

a summer day

india

75 x 100 cm


saloni

india

acrylic on canvas

china

110 x 160 cm

kitty

acrylic on canvas

china

170 x 200 cm

waiting

acrylic on canvas

anjii

china

160 x 110 cm

acrylic on canvas

limei

china

160 x 110 cm

acrylic on canvas

yin

china

160 x 110 cm

acrylic on canvas

ayushi

china

160 x 110 cm

installation

appearance

acrylic and wallpaper

iran

installations

installation

appearance

acrylic and wallpaper

iran

installation

exclude

mural painting

latvia


rolina nell1968 ruttenthe netherlands

Rolina Nell studied from 1997-2001 at the Academy of Fine Art and Design Minerva, Groningen, the Netherlands. In 2006 she received a basic stipend from The Netherlands Foundation for Visual Arts, Design and Architecture.

artist residenciesUnion of Bulgarian Artists Sofia BulgariaArt Villa Garikula Garikula GeorgiaParadise International Art Center Tehran IranKanoria Centre for Arts Ahmedabad IndiaRed Gate Artist Residency Beijing ChinaSingalong Artist Residency Riga Latvia

exhibitionsSareckhi Art Villa Garikula Garikula Georgia solo paintingsAppearance Pirozi Street Neighborhood Tehran Iran solo installationIndian Times Kanoria Centre for Arts Ahmedabad India solo paintingsOpen Studio Red Gate Studios Beijing China group paintingsExclude Andrejsala Riga Latvia solo installation

[email protected]


colophon

Design Rolina NellText Rolina Nell Photographs Rolina NellPrinter Confiance, Amsterdam, the Netherlands

This catalogue was printed in an edition of 500

acknowledgementsThis publication was made possible with support ofThe Netherlands Foudation for Visual Arts, Design and ArchitectureAmsterdam, the Netherlands

Ahmad NadalianKaraman KutateladzeMargaret NowlingMylissa FitzsimmonsPaul GiesenPuja Shah

©2008 rolinanell.nl

In 2007 Rolina Nell spent the year travelling extensively and participating in several artist residencies. This catalogue is an overview of the works made during her sojourns.

the project


been everywhere, seen everything

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