Eliza Gerie de Geus
Eliza Gerie de Geus (b. 1989) is a Dutch / Polish Artist currently based in Amsterdam.
She is inspired by the research of her personal subjects of interest, travel, and nature. Her art functions as a medium to express her independent way of thinking. She doesn’t like to limit herself which is reflected in her artwork as well as in her diverse use of materials such as Resin, glass, sand, ink, and acrylic on canvas or aluminum.
Her work could be characterized as bold, reflecting her positive outlook on life, and she believes that all is to overcome. That there is always more to discover, and the idea to find richness in the smallest things in life. Her paintings invite the viewer to look behind the surface and allow them to discover deeper meaning and a realm where there is no limit to their imagination.
Rather than imposing my own story, I would like to invite the viewer to connect with his or her own reflections. One of my fascinations is to capture a moment of an occurring event in an abstract form of expression. While feeling a continuous movement, we are looking at a still image. Our minds start to wander or to contemplate, and we are brought to our own worlds through the image, in the same way we experience nature. The linen paper functions as a surface with its own delicate qualities, soft but structured, complementing the thicker yet transparent consistency of the acrylic gel I used when creating these works.
Artist: Eliza de Geus
Dimensions: 30cm x 40cm
Year: 2023
Frame: Unframed
Technique: Acrylic and Acrylic Gel on Canvas
"The greater the tension, the greater is the potential. Great energy springs from a correspondingly great tension of opposites" (Carl Jung; “alchemical studies.”, 1942) The color blue is connected to eternity, transcendence, the spiritual and mental. It symbolizes dedication, introspection, wisdom and serenity. Blue brings us to a meditative state. Blue light lowers our heartbeat and heart pressure. Blue is also associated with sadness, and contains a certain distance, a moment of reflection.
Artist: Eliza de Geus
Dimensions: 100cm x 100cm
Year: 2022
Technique: Acrylic, ink and grout on canvas
The painting is about introspection, and "inner alchemy". To be able to find our "gold" within, we first need to gain knowledge of ourselves. The blue color symbolizes wisdom, knowledge, dedication, introspection, and serenity. Through the color blue we can connect to eternity, the spiritual, and a moment of reflection. The painting has a warm golden background painted with two colors of thick golden ink. I also mixed some of the ink with sand and added this to create a structure, which causes a beautiful effect when light shines upon it. The central part of the painting consist of different shades of light blue, yellow, white, mint green, and light warm oranges.
Artist: Eliza de Geus
Dimensions: 100cm x 100cm
Year: 2023
Frame: Unframed
Technique: Oil, Ink, and Sand on Canvas
My intention for this painting was to capture the essence of of the famous quote ‘Carpe Diem’ by Horatius which is part of a longer poem: “Don’t ask (knowing would be a sin) what end the Gods have decided for you and me, Leaucenoe, or consult the Babylonia tablets. The best will be to bear whatever comes. Whether Jupiter has still given us many winters as if this, that now hits the porous rocks of the Tyrrhenian Sea. Is the latest in our lives, be wise enjoy your wine and do not have a long hope, while we’re talking about, our time is escaping enviously. Seize the day, and trust in the future the least as possible.” Not knowing and not wanting to know what the future holds, means to live in the moment, and accept the moment. From a place of acceptance comes surrender, and from surrender we receive the gifts that are here in the now for us.
Artist: Eliza de Geus
Dimensions: 90cm x 70cm
Year: 2021
Frame: Unframed
Technique: Oil and pigment on canvas
Hidden Wonders When we open ourselves up to the invisible in life, because of the knowledge we obtain on our path of enlightenment, we will realize the fullness and magic of life and we will be granted its Gifts.
Artist: Eliza de Geus
Dimensions: 100cm x 80cm
Year: 2021
Frame: Unframed
Technique: Acrylic on canvas, Glass, Ink, Oil on canvas, Resin
"I had to recognize that I am only the expression and symbol of the soul." Carl Jung, liber novus, page 234. For the alchemists, the rubedo stage meant the last phase, and it was the integration of the (psycho)spiritual insights into the self before its re-entry to the world. The three alchemical stages preceding rubedo are nigredo (blackness), representing the spiritual death, albedo (whiteness), which represents purification; and citrinitas (yellowness), the stage of awakening the interest to come back to life. From the jungian psychological perspective, the rubedo represented the merging of ego and Self. It is the spirit, soul and body that are re-unified, and from this stage one can re-enter life again. The rubedo stage in alchemy is associated with the ‘Philosopher’s stone and Gold.
Artist: Eliza de Geus
Dimensions: 100cm x 100cm
Year: 2022
Technique: Oil, Ink, and Sand on Canvas
This painting is inspired by Plato’s theory of the supernatural. Plato greatly elaborated on the dualism between the natural and the supra-natural and the body and the soul. Plato’s philosophy asserts that there are two realms: the physical realm and the spiritual realm, “the world of Forms”. The physical realm, the material world we see, is only a shadow, or image of the true reality of the realm of Forms. The forms according to Plato are abstract, perfect unchanging concepts or ideals that transcend time and space. The soul according to Plato exists of three Hierarchical faculties: reason, spirit, and desire. It is a virtue to live in harmony with one’s soul and this enables the soul to work more effectively. Reason can govern spirit and desire and the soul can obtain knowledge from the world of the Forms. If we can accept who we are and accept our soul’s mission, we get out of its way, and our higher self or soul) will lead( through) us on our divine path.
Artist: Eliza de Geus
Dimensions: 70cm x 90cm
Year: 2022
Frame: Unframed
Technique: Oil on canvas