“We don´t see things as they are, we see things as we are. The world is wonderful when we remove the filter of rationality.”
Simone Hooymans (1974), born in the Netherlands, lives and works in Norway.
She is graduated from the Art academy for visual art in Arnhem (Artez) and Breda (St.Joost) in the Netherlands.
Simone Hooymans makes experimental animations based on a hand drawn world which she combines with digital animation techniques. She creates elusive yet disturbing landscapes, aiming to create a visual poetry based on her own personal story.
And at the same time seducing the viewer into a place beyond reality, a deceitful echo of the natural world while simultaneously taking them on a journey of self-reflection.
The works of Hooymans manifest the effect of human relationship with nature in various ways. The source of her inspiration includes the natural world and our constant struggle with understanding the world and dealing with environmental crisis.
Hooymans creates synergies between innovative music and art with her animations and video installations. She has collaborated with several Norwegian musicians and has participated in a series of international group exhibitions and film festivals, like Ars Electronica, Dutch Film Festival.
In 2017 she was part of both the Vestlandsutstillingen and Statens Høstutstillingen (State Exhibition) in Norway.
“A work by Simone Hooymans is always a journey of discovery: Behind the horizon there is a new horizon; beneath the surface a new world awaits, outside the circle of life there is a new circle, the universe is infinite, time is dissolved or moves in circles.
Her work is saturated by a deep love for nature. At the same time, she poses questions of what is the human’s place in it all; do we see ourselves as connected to nature or do we place ourselves outside it? In everything there is a darkness balanced by light, and with subtle humour and joy of everything beautiful, Simone lets us feel hope of survival in a time where a lot feels overwhelmingly dark.
Simone ́s fantastic and wonderful universes are both terrifying and moving, and always stimulates thought. Her hand-drawn style is a contrast to the digital aesthetic that surrounds us daily, and poses both a question and an answer, by showing that digital and manual expressions can play together to make something unique.
Simone has developed her own non-verbal language, in which she interprets our present and past with nuances that we rarely see. That is why her films should be watched more than once. A new discovery awaits every time.”
Turid Rogne Filmproducer, Aldeles AS
Music and the visuals complement each other in a memorable fashion. It is meticulous, meditative and elusive work.
Honorable Mention, Rett Ned (animation, music Building Instrument)
Short Film festival – Grimstad 2017.
“We know that behind every image revealed there is another image more faithful to reality, and in the back of that image there is another, and yet another behind the last one, and so on, up to the true image of that absolute, mysterious reality that no one will ever see.” Michelangelo Antonioni
Artist talk Simone Hooymans, organized by Varg e Vi, Gjilan Kosovo
The artist talk is part of OOH Urban video art festival in Gjilan Kosovo:
Eight international video artists will be presented during two months.
One week / one artist, followed by an artist talk.
> ORGANIZED BY VARG E VI CONTEMPORARY ART CENTER
> CURATED BY MAUREEN BACHAUS
