Sophie Vanhomwegen

Sophie Vanhomwegen’s practice blends the familiar and the strange, establishing a balance between comforting and unsettling images. Through a combination of figurative and abstract elements, her work explores the complexities of human emotions, seeking to reveal hidden aspects of our nature and capture elusive feelings.

Focusing on perception and the conditioning of reality, Vanhomwegen uses various materials and techniques to create unexpected combinations that challenge what is conventional. Transitioning from painting to digital mediums, her work encourages viewers to critically examine their perceptions, highlighting how our understanding of reality can be shaped by thought.

Her illustrations often feature blurred faces, deliberately extracting the gaze to draw attention to its significance. This transformation of the gaze allows for multiple interpretations, suggesting that the act of looking can take on different meanings beyond mere observation. The gaze, with its hypnotic effect, becomes a powerful symbol of seduction and allure, embodying both attraction and complexity.

In her work, she reflects on her identity as a woman, engaging critically with beauty standards and stereotypes portrayed in magazines and advertisements. These visual narratives often reinforce an idealized form of seduction, prompting her to explore the implications of such representations. By highlighting the gaze, she examines how it can seduce while also questioning the power dynamics at play.