Wil Willemsen

Wil Willemsen (1943, Amsterdam) is fascinated by people. She observes people on the street, at work, in sports, and how they relate to one another in groups. While studying at the Pedagogical Academy, where she initially envisioned a different career, she learned to observe and deduce sharply. She took notes on the methods people use to communicate, to distinguish themselves within a group, or to make contact. Those notes later proved useful during her time at the European Academy in Trier and during courses and workshops at the Van Gogh Museum, where she had decided to fully dedicate herself to painting. During her numerous sessions in studios and drawing excursions in cities (including work trips to Greece, France, Germany, and Thailand), she learned to translate these modes of communication into colorful, rhythmic interpretations. With bold strokes, Wil Willemsen represents the interpersonal relationships of the figures on paper and canvas in vivid colors: groups of people bound together in rough paint rhythms. Her work leaves the viewer ample room for personal interpretation, though it is clear that she primarily aims to convey emotions such as curiosity, jealousy, and resignation through her figures.