Front of our cottage in Grey Street
At work in the studio
Works finished and in progress
|
 Studio & courtyard
"My work is the result of interest in and
love for recycled materials – wood; fabric; metal; degraded paints – which I
source from demolition sites, beaches, railway lines and other places.
Treasures can be found anywhere, really.
I am especially fond of scrap wood. It has texture, appeal, history and is inherently original. I also have an affinity with textures which I try to achieve both in the 2D and the 3D form by using layer on layer of paints and/or materials such as leaves, paper, sand and soil and fabric. Initially focused on large multimedia artwork - I exhibited both in the Manawatu (Thermostat Gallery in Palmerston North; the Feilding Arts Awards, for which I was a recipient twice) and also in the Netherlands (http://www.strange-fruit.eu/home), I am increasingly interested in the idea of taking the artwork outside. To me, the outside walls of a house are a canvas. Brought to the outside, the work takes on another life, another identity, another role. It ‘dresses’ the house while also inviting the passer-by to take notice, observe, contemplate and perhaps be inspired. I mainly use for this recycled hard woods as my starting 'canvas' such as Matai and Rimu which I find at demolition sites. The use of tar in older New Zealand buildings (to prevent wood wurm) which you might find attached to the wood often is used as a graphic design starting point. My latest work are paintings on recycled hard & particle board with an emphasis on texture and includes figures, based on, and the result of, my ongoing reflection on the theme of immigration." Job Klijn |
http://www.stuff.co.nz/manawatu-standard/lifestyle/69806864/a-painterly-perspective-on-immigration-by-artist-job-klijn
A painterly perspective on immigration by artist Job Klijn
Warwick Smith/ Fairfax NZ
Job Klijn is getting ready for his first exhibition at Palmerston North's White Room gallery.
Job Klijn came to New Zealand 27 years ago and now in his first art exhibition he tackles a subject that he has lived with since then, being an immigrant.
Klijn says the stories he tells in his paintings are not just his own, but they come from his French wife, friends and other immigrants that he has met.
"Sometimes I walk around and I feel as though I am not really here. Things can get a bit blurred as an immigrant."
All of Klijn's materials are recycled. He uses old house paint, varnish and stains to build heavy textures, painting on hardboards, floorboards, pallet wood or anything he can get his hands on. Soil, string, a rusty hinge and an old tap also make it into his works. He says he loves old.
"I love recycling, the whole principal of it is fantastic. It's like when you walk into a new suburb and to me there is nothing there, it's just new. But then there'll be an old falling down shed somewhere and it has a past and a history. People are trying to get perfection, but for me it's the opposite."
Klijn says he starts his paintings with a layering and then goes on to add other elements, outlines and sometimes figures.
Warwick Smith/ Fairfax NZ
Job Klijn is getting ready for his first exhibition at Palmerston North's White Room gallery.
Job Klijn came to New Zealand 27 years ago and now in his first art exhibition he tackles a subject that he has lived with since then, being an immigrant.
Klijn says the stories he tells in his paintings are not just his own, but they come from his French wife, friends and other immigrants that he has met.
"Sometimes I walk around and I feel as though I am not really here. Things can get a bit blurred as an immigrant."
All of Klijn's materials are recycled. He uses old house paint, varnish and stains to build heavy textures, painting on hardboards, floorboards, pallet wood or anything he can get his hands on. Soil, string, a rusty hinge and an old tap also make it into his works. He says he loves old.
"I love recycling, the whole principal of it is fantastic. It's like when you walk into a new suburb and to me there is nothing there, it's just new. But then there'll be an old falling down shed somewhere and it has a past and a history. People are trying to get perfection, but for me it's the opposite."
Klijn says he starts his paintings with a layering and then goes on to add other elements, outlines and sometimes figures.
