Inside the Studio

Karin Vermeer

What are the major themes you pursue in your work?

The major themes in my work are female portraits. It has been that way since I was a kid. When I was young I wanted to be a fashion designer and I studied fashion before I went to art school. I have always been fascinated by the unrealistic way in which women are presented in fashion magazines. I admired it, but I also found it disturbing because of the manipulation of the images. Nowadays I myself manipulate my own portraits and mix up different female faces into one new portrait. I also use popular female icons that I distort with grungy images and in the end surface with raw structures. In my work, the unrealistic beauty ideals and the evanescent coincide.

What was the best advice given to you as an artist? 

The Master has failed more times than the beginner has even tried. Be who you really are!

Work hard and never ever give up on your dreams!

Prefer to work with music or in silence? 

I can’t paint without music. Most of the time I listen to my favorite radio station, beside that I also play a lot of music out of my own collection. Music is a big inspiration to me such as all things that trigger my senses such as food, fashion, design, and architecture.

If you could only have one piece of art in your life, what would it be? 

Now that is an absolute impossible question for me to answer… I like so many different artists and styles.I would love to have a drawing by Dutch artist Anouk Griffioen, a painting by graffiti artist Miss Van, and a picture by Erwin Olaf. But I also love the works of Ruud van Empel, Mark Ryden, Jean- François Lepage, Katinka Lampe and many, many more .I just can’t choose!

Who are your favorite writers?

I don’t read many books because I work all the time. But a friend recommended a book by Hermann Hesse a long time ago. After my first book by Hermann Hesse I read many other books by him. My favorite one is Narcissus and Goldmund. I also like the books by Dutch writer Ronald Giphart.