BIO Maayke Bal is a Dutch contemporary artist. From a young age she has been an alround creative and creator. She has always had a broad interest in art, sociology, psychology, economy and geopolitics. She studied Policy & Governance Sciences and Psychology and graduated her master in Clinical Psychology & Personality Theory.
Maayke is intrigued by human nature and psyche, both in their best and worst forms. She holds the strong belief that that the best within and amongst people can occur as long as the worst is not denied, for denying the negative comes with dangers, loss and hypocrisy. Maayke held positions in the fields of addicion treatment, forensic psychiatry and in the Dutch prison system, both as a psychologist and as a prison director.
Maayke got her three children from the age of 26, which gave ultimate meaning to her life. Reflecting on her own childhood, being a good mum and providing a steady and loving home has always been vitally important for her. Therefore, she suffered a a big loss when she went through a divorce in 2012. After processing this loss Maayke wanted to focus more on the fulfilling things in life, among which making art. She started a private practice as a psychologist and relational therapist. In 2018, the year Maayke married her newfound big love, she began her intensive study of art, producing more artwork and pursuing a serious art carreer. The task she has set herself is to remain faithful at all times to her primitive, non-rational artistic impulses as her artist's compass; a psychoanalytic sequence of associations, impulses and artistic actions instead of rational considerations have determined where Maayke's artistic path led ever since.
STATEMENT The beauty of the good as wel as the pains of the bad in this and in my world form the source emotions for my artworks. A never ending associative stream of thoughts, feelings, impulses and actions lead me in making my artwork. As hard as it can be, I try to let this internal psychoanalitic process be my only leading force.
Written words and stories, their symbolics and meanings, especially in popmusic, are often the catalyst for my associative and creative process. They become part of the painting, but only as a hidden secret, that contributes to the beauty of the work; like a wonderful song, both expressive and quieting. My artistic handwriting seems somewhat fixed througout my entire life; characteristic elements but new methods and materials. Again and again I have looked for a pleasing balance between tight and timeless composition and expressive rebelliousness, between movement and stillness, between bright colorfulness and gloom. I love al kinds of media to work with and I allow my spinning head and heart to do what they freely want to do. Oilpainting is my biggest love though. Oil paint and classic oilpainting techniques have a beauty and richness that I strive to integrate in my abstract works. I am addicted to cold wax for it's sublime qualities. The first layers of my work, resulting in basic colors, shapes and textures, are created intuitively. In the following layers, intentionality and disturbance alternate. I strongly prefer working with painting knives, sqeegees, silicone brushes, knives and scratchers. Gushing, smearing, glazing, milling, scratching, cutting and sculpting I explore color, shape, value, and texture till the piece feels complete.