07 march 2023, Flor Linckens
The exciting interface of materials and disciplines: Hilde Overbergh in Ballroom Gallery
Until 18 March, Ballroom Gallery is presenting a solo exhibition by Hilde Overbergh in their gallery space in Brussels. The Belgian artist has a multidisciplinary practice that operates on the interface between figuration and abstraction. She makes paintings, collages, sculptures, serigraphs, installations and assemblages that often build on and refer to earlier work. Moreover, the disciplines often overlap in her practice. Materials, colours and shapes of all kinds are transformed into works that offer a unique representation of reality — or perhaps a variation on that reality.
Experimentation plays a significant role in the artist's practice and Overbergh regularly uses found, discarded materials in her works. In her studio, these materials acquire surprising new contexts and meanings, in a process in which Overbergh attempts to penetrate, deconstruct and abstract our chaotic reality. She is interested in form, composition, texture and colour, but also in the physicality of her materials and objects, without imbuing any material with more importance than the other.
In an interview with Frederic De Meyer of The ArtCouch, the artist argues that the viewer should think in terms of layers when interpreting her work. The physical layers, but also a more undefined layer on top of them that represents a certain inner space. Overbergh: "There is an in-between space. When the expected is omitted and the unexpected becomes visible: that's exactly where the tension lies." The artist invites the viewer to explore the mysterious elements of her work, the visible and invisible elements that also shape the world around us.
Although Overbergh's practice has a conceptual basis, intuition also plays a decisive role in her work. In some cases, her pieces have poetic titles, such as "Exercises in Futility" or "A Drop of Water Falling without Respite". Her use of materials varies from textile, plastic and porcelain to foam, paper and cement. The artist then edits them by means of assembling, folding, stitching or cutting out parts. In doing so, she plays with conventions surrounding the materials and disciplines that she uses.
Overbergh studied painting at the Otis College of Art and Design in Los Angeles and printmaking at the Academy of Art College in San Francisco, followed by a master's degree in Visual Arts at PXL in Hasselt. Her work has been included in the collections of the province of Flemish Brabant, Belfius and the Flemish Community (housed in the permanent collection of Museum M Leuven). In addition to her artistic practice, she teaches painting at the SLAC (City of Leuven Academy and Conservatory). Together with four other artists, she also runs the SECONDroom artist space in Leuven.
