ARTIST STATEMENT

Through my work, I embrace a melody of classical subjects with large canvases and a full-bodied use of oil paint. 

My recent body of work explores perceived or accepted ideas of beauty, specifically in reference to classical Western art. I am interested in where and under which circumstances decorative art flourishes. How has the function of representational art changed over time? To what degree has the idea of aesthetic beauty become controversial in the art world?

I paint intuitively and quickly in order to explore traditional principles and decorative elements of the work. By pulling traditional, recognizable decorative elements into the pieces, I try to spark a faint feeling of familiarity. Parts of the representational images get pushed towards abstraction. Sometimes evidence of the painting’s progression is left on the canvas, such as pallets and underpaintings, to embrace the creative process; by drawing attention to the physicality of the paint and how a painting was created, I pull back the curtains that separate a viewer from the artist’s studio.

BIOGRAPHY

Born in 1989 in Uithoorn, the Netherlands, Jonker spent her formative years developing her artwork. She received her BFA in 2011 from California College of the Arts in San Francisco. She has been fortunate to participate in several artist residencies, including a studio residency in Paris at 59 Rivoli and a year-long residency in Harrison Hot Springs, British Columbia. Jonker’s paintings have been exhibited internationally in countries such as Ireland, France, the Netherlands, and the United States.

She currently lives and works in Victoria, Canada.