REINEKE HOLLANDER

ARTIST STATEMENT:

Reineke Hollander is a Dutch-American artist, who grew up in the Netherlands but has lived in New York City since 1986. Since 2015 she works for six months a year in Marseille, France. A brief career as a theatrical costume designer provided the genesis of her love for fabrics and sewing. 

“Like an archeologist I excavate fragments of gestures made by people in the past, in the form of vintage fabrics, paper and photographs, and try to discern a narrative from them. Shards become “wholes,” not as something that once was whole in the past, like an antique vase, but as new forms in the present whose meaning can be symbolic, allegorical and/or a comment on current situations that concern me. ‘Places I have been’ are another source of inspiration. It refers to cities where I had a residency or established a longtime studio, including Warsaw, Dar Es Salaam, Jerusalem, Santa Fe, and Marseille. Every one of my works is formed by a hybrid of all those places: their political, historical, cultural and emotional vibes that flow into my studio and join with material I find locally.” 

Recently a short documentary came out about me working in resp Marseille and Brooklyn. 

One can view it on YouTube; search under my name, Reineke Hollander. 

(‘ From Marseille to Brooklyn’, by Boisakre Production