Shinrin-Yoku (Forest Bath) by Ger Doornink
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Shinrin-Yoku (Forest Bath) 2023

Ger Doornink

TextileMixed mediaOil paintAcrylicPaint
170 ⨯ 130 ⨯ 6.50 cm
ConditionExcellent
Price on request

Villa del Arte Galleries

  • About the artwork
    Shinrin-Yoku or a forest bath is an activity consisting of visiting a forest, immersing yourself in it with the five senses, in order to obtain well-being for the person or a benefit for their health.
    This painting is part of Ger Doornink's upcoming exhibition 'Thoughts' in December 2023 in Villa del Arte Galleries in Amsterdam. In this show, his mastery in portrait painting is reflected and it makes evident his role as a craftsman who embraces new materials and textures to capture and represent the essence of his subjects. The artist is constantly examining and re-inventing his technique. His intrinsic curiosity for, and constant study of the Dutch Masters come together with his experiences in Japan as a young fashion photographer, resulting in a collection that binds both elements of tradition and contemporaneity into harmonious compositions.
    He successfully grasps the core of Dutch and Japanese traditional attires and transforms them into modern, fresh, and captivating aesthetics. 'Thoughts' takes the viewer into a trance where time does not exist, where they get lost in the gaze of a powerful figure while wondering about the stories behind them; stories that one cannot only see in their expressive eyes, but now also through the choice of each material that complements them.
  • About the artist

    Ger Doornink was educated at the Arnhem Art Academy. He started his career as a designer and photographer in the advertising and fashion world, using his alias “Gerry the Cat” in this business.

    While living in Tokyo he became acquainted with the Japanese style and used it in his designs. In Milan (Italy) he was influenced by the famous Italian masters and the way of life in Italy. Back in the Netherlands, he began to study the old Dutch masts, just like Rembrandt.

    Today, most of his works are paintings of great women; he combines all his different influences from graphic design to old masters.

    Ger Doornink frames the woman on two axes, marks the expressive center of the portrait and then begins to paint. He makes portraits bathed in eternity, resulting in a memory from the future, cut from sky in grey, sepia or black and white with bold color accents.

    Doornink draws the contours of the eyes like a fairytale mask and paints lips like a Hollywood set designer The influences of the painter, illustrator and photographer with influences from Tokyo, Milan and Amsterdam are clearly visible in his catwalk-ready almost geishas.

    Ger Doornink is master of the snapshot, of the feminine pebaar, coloring the past and the fading of the future. As if the negative does not reveal itself, but has a revelation.

    Something magical is transferred from Doornink's eye to ours, via a code that radiates modernity, sensitivity, delicacy and at the same time power.

    There are invisible colors that Doornink makes visible and glances that are underlined by an accent of light. Therefore, despite being so contemporary, his work seems to have always existed.

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