Raquel Framer Framed

RaQuel van Haver’s paintings offer snapshots of daily life in her local neighbourhood in the South-East of Amsterdam. Her interest lies in ethnicity and identity, inspired by the presence of African, Western, Caribbean and Latin American cultures within her direct neighbourhood. The paintings are considered raw and masculine, monumental and energetic, or dark and ominous. Negotiations between the ‘self’ and ‘other’ appear as a recurring theme. Her work also deals with the pressures resulting from societal demands and unchallenged perceptions. Surface and subject are merged into heavily textured compositions using thick layers of oil paint on burlap, while combining charcoal, clay, gypsum, newspaper and ash. The narratives conveyed are recognisable, however at the same time succeed in creating a new inviting experience of unexpected encounters.