Mieke Oldenburg

Mieke Oldenburg is a Dutch artist who lives in Utrecht, Holland, although she also works in Mozambique. She studied at the Academy for Visual Arts, Minerva in Groningen, The Netherlands and the Royal Academy for Fine Arts in Antwerp, Belgium. Mieke is a member of the MEMENTO foundation, the NVK ( Nederlandse Vereniging van Keramisten) and the NABK ( Nationale Associatie voor Beeldend Kunstenaar). She works in clay and bronze: serene introverted busts of women, bathing figures, women as sentinels, standing figures and reliefs. The skin of the sculpture is very important. Most of the time she uses box shapes, which the sculptures are seated on, as a surface that she paints. With powerful lines and greyish or sometimes intense colours she shows her perception of reality. Women, horses and landscapes are the principal subjects of the sculptures. Her sculptures are physically close but emotionally distant. The calm pastel and grey tones of the works in clay reinforce the subtle beauty and contribute to a sometimes mystic radiation. The viewer is struck by the psychological intensity of her portraits. She has the talent to give her figures a structural grace and simplicity combined with a budding sensuality.

Her horses, symbols of the power of life, are massive and enigmatic. The forms are sober, but at the same time powerful and poetic. Mieke Oldenburg could be classified as contemporary Classicism. However she adapts the classic influences in her own way, and demonstrates self-conciseness and individuality.