In the latest series of Belgian painter Hilde Goossens (born 1978), hazy human figures are seen waiting in lounges, standing in queues. Alone and quiet, they make their way through the world. Their identities are thin. Their faces easily melt and disappear in crowds.

The pressures of frantic modern living are openly on display in these melancholic scenes executed in a pale but beautiful blue-grey palette.

 

Hilde, who was educated at the Academy of Arts in Waasmunster and the Sint-Lucas Institute in Ghent, talks about her process and influences: “Photography in general is an inspiration in my work and I like to use old photographs to overpaint them and get a new result, a new connotation. The artists that influence me are Warhol, Picasso, Léon Spilliaert, Modigliani, Egon Schiele. I also like the cut-outs from Matisse. I like setting the bar high, I don’t like ‘easy’. For me, painting is challenging myself. I might learn the most when I fail.”

“What I really would like is that people take more time to look at something,” she continues. “I hope that I make paintings that you can’t get in under a minute at least. To me, as I take my time to explore my own paintings, I keep seeing new things and new characters. Paintings should be like that, so you can keep exploring new bits in the same painting.”

More on www.hildegoossens.com. Find Hilde on Saatchi Art (www.saatchiart.com/hildegoossens), Facebook (www.facebook.com/ArtByHildeGoossens) and Twitter (@HildeGoossens78).

Images used with permission.