STORY

Esther van der Sluis (born 1969) is a fine artist. Van der Sluis lives and works in the countryside in the Netherlands.
Her mother is a professional painter and introduced her to arts at a very young age, specifically teaching her how to observe and analyse with an artistic eye. This ‘nurture’ and her ‘nature’ first took her to photography and drawing.

Wether it is in clay, paint or design her handwriting is recognizable. Often you’ll find contrasts; fragility versus sturdyness, subtile shapes versus unpolished edges. Brilliance versus humble expressions. State of the art techniques (like 3d printing in porcelain) are combined with very traditional artisanal techniques.
Her handwriting is also found in a consequent use of a specific colour schemes. Earthy and sober, recognizable in her own developed glazings but also in her paintings.
She tries to capture the essence, the unbearable being of life, which is the integral search in her works of art.

Soul
‘During wintertimes when fingers almost freeze to the palette knife and oilpaint on the palette seems putty. Because all the senses are contributing to that specific moment the work is developing it’s own ‘soul’.
Van der Sluis wants to carry out the deeply felt atmosphere of a certain moment in all its facets. All senses contribute to translating that image into paint on the linnen. Even an odor, for example that of a rough pine on a sizzling hot summer’s day, is part of that total experience and thus also essential translates: that place, that atmosphere, or that emotion.

Cutting the onion
Obviously there must be a direct click with the landscape. As with many things in life, when you look a bit longer, more and more details are revealed. As a painter it’s like cutting an onion; layer by layer. Every moment painting, there’s a new element that you discover while observing the landscape. Van der Sluis is investigating, experiencing the atmosphere of the moment with all senses.

As oil painter she is working ‘en-plein-air’. Plein Air means actually working outside, surrounded by nature, just with the elements, an easel and oilpaint. In these paintings she tries to catch the soul and atmosphere of  the moment. And capture the beauty and mystery of the landscape at a certain moment. The working of light is often the main theme in her work.

Nowadays, Esthers’ main focus is on art projects often executed in clay or oil paint, although still she is being asked for interior design projects.