"In absolute focus, I search for silence. Not in the sense of lacking human sound, but rather as stillness; as an equivalent of inner peace, wonder, and slowing down. Silence as a form of positive emptiness, so that there is an actual space to be able to see and perceive the things around you anew."
(Zaida Oenema)
The title of the exhibition refers to the poem of the same name by Robert Weston. It says a lot about the work and method of Zaida Oenema (NL, 1981). She builds her oeuvre with attention and perfection; whereby liquid time solidifies in her concentrated works.
You see a line, even many lines, or a stripe and several stripes. Then again you see a cut, not shorter or longer than necessary, but exactly as intended. The works consist of innumerable cuts, hatches, stripes, lines or curves; arranged one after the other, singular or multiple and all with extreme precision. Oenema uses minimal techniques such as a soldering iron, scalping knife, pencil and gluing. And different types of paper distinguish the works in complexity, both in appearance and meaning.
The mostly Japanese scooping paper is chosen for its specific properties. So that, for example, after gluing sheets of thin paper, the planned treatment is still possible. These aspects are tangible and visible in Oenema's work. The result looks minimalistic but stems from maximum performance.
Time is of Essence
(Poem by Robert Weston)
With me, the past, present and future
flow with one continual river
so that what I do today impacts
some more distant event downstream,
even as the things that come down your
way today have their routes entwined
in the far distant past.
Time is of essence.
Time calling you now to sit and be.
Let me be the chronometer
that keeps the time
and the metronome
that strikes the balance in your days.