Statement
The imagery of the earth, its cycles and psychology are the subjects of inquiry in the landscape paintings of Marianne van Lent. Influenced by The Hudson River School and the Northern European notion of Romanticism, where nature corresponds to human emotional states, the paintings explore the dream of place, sanctuary and separation.
The content speaks to timelessness and cosmography mapping and examining the natural world. Scenes from nature and other real world phenomena is not described for its own sake, it represents a perceptible surface created to symbolize affinities with primordial ideals. Visual perceptions of light and color suggest a place or a state of mind.
As in metaphysical thought, the process of painting and creation becomes more important than the nearly unattainable goal of transcendence and transformation. It is the process which creates something new and magical so the prize sought is truly discovered through the search. As in automatic writing, the subconscious takes over and the painting's visage is channeled.
The surface interest adds to the notion of timelessness. Employing an ancient fresco secco technique, the image is "detached and set adrift from its original context, giving consideration to both an ancient and recent history. The paint applied in undulating gestures and languid spans, suggests a transparent, ephemeral quality and contrasts the earthy, ancient fresco beneath.