the Artist book 'Art at work' consists a selection of paintings, photodocumentation of performances and exhibitions between 2003 and 2022
Ellen Rodenberg is very interested in what paint, color, shape and light do to her, but also to the viewer of works of visual art.
Hence the title of her exhibition.
People like to initially look for the recognizable, the brains look for something to hold on to: ' it looks like a landscape, a tree, river, etc.'
Beyond that stage there is only the paint, color, form and technique.
The concentration on the image increases where deeper thoughts and associations are given space.
But with this title she also wants to give the viewer the freedom of their own interpretation and communicate with it through her work.
The history of her own work also plays an important role. That's how she re-uses, cut out old paintings, superimpose them to create a new image or does she use driftwood, flat food cans or a found wad of paper as a carrier.
Also interesting is the way in which she stretches a thin canvas over a lying on the ground canvas, paints the thin canvas with diluted acrylic paint, after which it seeps on the stretched canvas.
Then she pulls the thin canvas away and a new image has arisen on which further work is being done.
Ellen is constantly trying to get a grip on her hectic streams of thought, the work of great predecessors, the art world and society in general.
Since 2006 she has entered into a collaboration as an extension of her own professional practice with the visual artists Maarten Schepers and Kees Koomen under the name Ex-Mêkh.
The group makes installations, videos and performances at home and abroad. There is intensive contact with related groups throughout Europe.