Loie Hollowell

Both Hilma af Klint and Loie Hollowell attempt to translate their spiritual experiences
into a universal visual language and explore beyond binary boundaries, such as man versus woman. Hollowell’s work is characterised by a striking use of form, colour, and symbolism. She draws inspiration from various mythologies, religions, and symbolic traditions to capture the cycle of life, birth, and rebirth. In her paintings, she often incorporates body parts
such as breasts, hips, vulvas, and pregnant bellies, weaving them together with abstract geometric patterns and shapes reminiscent of cells, planets, and other cosmic structures.

Additionally, Hollowell frequently employs universal forms like the mandorla, an almond shape symbolising the convergence of two worlds. In the work Eight Saints, Hollowell drew from personal experience and documented the physical effects of motherhood on the body. For this work, she created casts of her own pregnant body and those of her friends. In Eight Saints, she used casts of breasts, which she mounted on canvas and painted. The breasts, from whose nipples milk is dripping, encircle a dark mandorla that refers to the vulva. Hollowell presents the pregnant body in an almost sacred and cosmic manner, giving form to the otherworldly and ecstatic state of being achieved during and after childbirth.

Nest ruimte voor kunst
ExhibitionsEvents
Nest

Cycle, Portal, Path

–
Cycle Portal Path - Lotte van Uittert 001.jpg
All images
Artists

This fall, Nest presents Cycle, Portal, Path: an exhibition that examines how the traces left by the Swedish artist Hilma af Klint (1862-1944) affect contemporary art 100 years later. Af Klint lived in a time full of developments and scientific turmoil. Scientists studied nature and dealt with phenomena such as atomic fission and X-rays; discoveries that shaped the world and made the invisible visible.

Cycle, Portal, Path shows that Af Klint’s exploration of the relationship between science, nature and spiritual life is as urgent now as it was in her time. The artists in the exhibition relate directly or indirectly to Af Klint and her views and supplement them with contemporary or futuristic ideas. Through meditative drawings and video installations, abstract paintings and AI-generated images, the artists reflect on new technologies, spiritual movements, ecology and the connection between then, now and future generations.

Cycle, Portal, Path was created in conversation with Kunstmuseum Den Haag and KM21, where the exhibitions Hilma af Klint and Piet Mondriaan: Forms of Life and Tai Shani – Our Hieromantic Objects of Love will be on view simultaneously. A diverse context program has been developed for the three exhibitions. Keep an eye on our website for updates.

Made possible by
  • MFO_LOGO_RGB_ZWART_SMALL.png
  • DH_black.png
  • iona-logo-cmyk_png.png
  • Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds - horizontaal - zwart.png
  • stroom_100pt_zw.png
Related events
Related to “Cycle, Portal, Path”
Press