In No More Words, Marcelle Hanselaar’s paintings focus on the myriad facets of feminine existence, eschewing the reductive dichotomies of heroine and antagonist, sanctity and profanity. The artist recurrently navigates thematic waters rich with allegorical underpinnings, from the mythic interplay of Lilith, Eve, and Adam to the tempestuous embrace of the North Sea and the enigmatic whispers of the Oracle, each narrative arc delicately balanced on the fulcrum of a female figures ceaseless quest, their explorations punctuated by moments that oscillate between levity and darkness.
Within the series exploring the triadic mythos of Adam, Eve, and Lilith in Trouble in Paradise and It's you I am looking for, Hanselaar crafts a narrative that reimagines the dichotomous portrayal of Eve and Lilith, traditionally cast as the compliant consort and the rebel demoness, respectively. Through Hanselaar's lens, these figures emerge not as mere foils to masculine narratives but as architects of balance, each harboring a fragment of the other within, their interactions laced with an erotic curiosity that transcends oppositional binaries. The depiction of Eve and Adam, enshrouded in shadow against a backdrop of celestial azure, captures a moment of intimate defiance, with Eve's assertive gaze challenging Adam to meet her in a confluence of equals. "It's you I am looking for" portrays a nocturnal ballet between Lilith and Eve, a silent communion that eschews envy for a recognition of shared essence, embodying the struggle and triumphs of contemporary womanhood.
In Yellow Sky and At the Oracle of Limbo 4, Hanselaar delves into the realms of loss and the perennial human quest for meaning. Yellow Sky, part of the North Sea series, portrays the eternal wanderer, her form juxtaposed against the vastness of the sea, her actions echoing the ancient rituals of mourning. At the Oracle of Limbo 4 captures the crescendo of frustration in the face of elusive guidance, the figure's impetuous gesture toward the oracle a poignant symbol of the search for answers that often lie within, a theme rendered all the more poignant by its personal resonance with the artist's own experience of bereavement.
In Under my skin 5 and The doubtful pleasures of domesticity, Hanselaar ventures into the primordial interplay of human and animal instinct. She weaves narratives where the distinction between woman and beast blurs, portraying the wolf as an emblem of our most fundamental desires and carnal yearnings. In Under my skin 5, the tableau is stark, with the lupine form lifeless, its visage frozen in a silent howl, while the woman emerges from its carcass, her demeanor one of serene defiance. In this metamorphosis, she stands to overshadow her male counterpart, not merely in stature but in the vastness of her desires and self-awareness, rendering him diminutive in both form and spirit, his consternation palpable in the face of her ascendant being.
Conversely, The doubtful pleasures of domesticity casts a contemplative shadow on the façade of conformity, with the female figure ensconced in the trappings of societal expectations, her attire, a skirt suit, a reluctant armor against her intrinsic wildness. The lace near her breasts, a nod to her suppressed sensuality, contrasts with her anxious interaction with the plant, a metaphor for the domestic sphere she finds herself ensnared within. In the distance, her lupine alter ego howls, a poignant outcry against the shackles of domestication, a call to reclaim the raw, unbridled essence that societal norms endeavor to tame.
Hanselaar's work stands as a testament to the complexity of the human condition, where the eternal search for understanding, balance, and self-realization unfolds in the nuanced interplay of light and shadow, hope and despair, capturing the indomitable spirit of the contemporary psyche.
Marcelle Hanselaar (b. 1945, Rotterdam, the Netherlands) has exhibited her paintings and prints internationally, and can be found in private and public collections worldwide including British Museum Prints Collection, London; The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Print Collection, New York; V & A Prints & Drawings Collection, London; V & A National Art Library, London; Whithworth Art Gallery and Museum; Ashmolean Museum, Oxford; Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge; Clifford Chance Art Collection, London; The Viktor Wynd Museum of Curiosities, London; Pallant House Gallery, Chichester;The Holburne Museum, Bath;Smith College Museum of Art, Ma, USA; Swarthmore College, Pennsylvania, US; University of Arizona, Tucson, US; Museum de Reede, Antwerp, Be; Sakimi Art Museum, Okinawa, Japan; Guandong Fine Art Museum, Guandong, China; Iraq National Library, Baghdad; Meermanno Museum-House of the Book, The Hague; Soho House Amsterdam; AMC, Amsterdam; University of Aberystwyth Print Collection, Wales; New Hall Art Collection, University of Cambridge; Clare Hall, Cambridge; The Ned, London; Rabo Bank, London; Merrill Lynch, London; and Paintings in Hospitals, London.