“Holland” (2021). All images © Chrystl Rijkeboer, shared with permission
Artist Chrystl Rijkeboer contemporizes sentimental porcelain figurines with a present-day twist: spiky COVID-19 molecules obscure the characters’ facial features, rendering the largely wealthy and ornately dressed figures both anonymous and commonplace in modern contexts.
Whether posing for a portrait or mid-curtesy, Rijkeboer’s pieces satirize the long-crafted Meissen figurines, which have been in production since the 18th Century and often romanticize an antiquated world “where women do not represent any relevance but being nice and glamourous,” she tells Colossal. “For me, it is mostly about the position as a woman and an artist. The pandemic made it quite clear that artists are the first to be labeled as unnecessary.”
Living and working in Haarlem, The Netherlands, Rijkeboer has crafted an extensive COVID-themed collection, which includes ubiquities like Zoom calls and masks, all of which you can see on her site. (via Lustik)
“Alice” (2021)
“Will we ever play and dance again together?” (2020)
Left: “Covid Duet #2 Brown” (2021). Right: “Dangerous Liaisons” (2020)
“Girl with Carrots & Rabbit” (2021)
Left: “Covid Couple” (2020). Right: “Covid Duet Blue” (2021)
“La Famiglia” (2021)
Left: “Covid Symphony #3” (2021). Right: Left: “Covid Symphony #4” (2021)
“Music Friends, boy with guitar & girl with flute” (2021)