Verika

Infobox Artist
bgcolour = silver
name = Verika
birthdate = birth date|1979|12|16|mf=y
nationality = flagicon|South Africa South African
field = Painter, Drawing
birthname = Verika
training = Ruth Prowse School of Art, Cape Town
movement = Expressionism,Abstract Expressionism
works =

Verika (Born in Pretoria, December 16, 1979) is an South African, abstract expressionist painter focusing on femininity and sensuality.

She has Fine Art diploma, majoring in painting and mixed media at Ruth Prowse School of Art.

Infobox Painting|

painting_alignment=right
image_size=200px
title=Interrupted by reality while dreaming
artist=Verika
year=2007
type=Oil on canvas
height=100
width=100
museum = Private Sale
city=Cape Town

Theme

Verika is currently busy painting distorted figures in an unknown, abstract landscape. She combine’s the idea of a figure with the lines of organic objects such as seedpods and shells where the space is ambiguous and is created through colour rather than lines. The figures are not specified, they are mere entities placed in a colourful space.

Her art can currently be divided into two themes - one being abstract landscapes with small unidentified figures, occupying a small section of this landscape. The second one is a sensual figure that evolves from a colour landscape and occupies most of the painted surface.

Infobox Painting|

---

painting_alignment=right
image_size=200px
title=Into the Red
artist=Verika
year=2007
type=Oil on canvas
height=60
width=60
museum = Private Sale
city=Cape Town

Colour and Brushstrokes

Her medium is oil paint, although she likes to sometimes incorporate other mediums such as enamel, charcoal, oil bars and ink. Her inspiration derives from the German Expressionists and Fauvists due to their expressive use of colour and she is also inspired by Lucian Freud and Frank Auerbach for their amazing painting techniques and their ability to create 1000's of meaningful layers on one single surface by only using oil paint.

Her primary concern is not to create art that incorporates intellectual purpose and meaning, but art that evokes a sense of emotional connection and aesthetic beauty. Her theme is human emotion and interaction between people in the context of a relationship. These emotions include happiness, tranquility, completeness, passion and comfort. The consistent element which is characteristic of her work is the colour red, which creates a warm and passionate atmosphere and the organic forms and lines which contribute to the paintings femininity and sensuality. Each of her paintings looks different and each tells their own stories. They are each unique in their own way.

Her brush strokes are expressive and rhythmic. Each brush stroke is there for a reason and each one contributes to the beauty of the painting. Each strokes is painted with raw emotion and feeling, in true Willem De Kooning style.

Galleries

She is represented by :
* The Lisa King Gallery in Cape Town
* Houtbay Gallery in Houtbay
* RED! the gallery in Cape Town.
* Moja Modern Gallery in Johannesburg

ee also

* South African painters
* Willem De Kooning
* German Expressionism

External links

* [http://verika-art.blogspot.com Artists website]