Ingrid Paulussen

Ingrid Paulussen was born in 1963 in Genk, BE. Her portraits balance between figuration and abstraction. The technique that helps her with this is on the sketched and subsequently painted portrait, processing various types of paper. Working this way means letting go for her; unexpected things happen. It is like working with clay. Ingrid’s work is therefore described as a work of art between a painting and a sculpture.

The balance between the faded portrait and the colorful three-dimensional, often glossy, finish unmistakably creates the same effect that a beautiful woman in reality also evokes; attraction! The viewer’s gaze is held by the portrait. Literally an eyecatcher. Ingrid often chooses the woman as the subject. The woman stands for beautiful, attractive and seductive. Ingrid examines femininity and displays it; the shape of the face, the eyes, the position, the look. What exactly determines the femininity of the woman? Ingrid discovered, according to her own words, only late, after her twentieth, her own femininity.

“Find Balance”: for Ingrid Paulussen the essence of this was already present, probably subconscious in her life from a very young age. Playing outside and the true tomboy she was, adventure all around, spectacular colors, different sounds and quiet, the outright beauty of nature triggered her. The artist  loves to retreat in the peace and calm of nature, enjoying its exquisite beauty and finding it to be her most important source for inspiration. It’s the perfect incentive in order to expose the subject matter in her artwork forthcoming from her intuition. Ingrid wants to bring the essence of being a woman to the surface in her powerful portraits, she uncovers the different layers and challenges us to reflect on this.  Do we see the woman as a seducer or mistress?  Do we see her as a fighter, a rebelling and free-spirited individual?  How does one identify women?