| Lies Kraal, Spotlight, 2002
Tranquility is one of the
most important elements in Lies Kraal's lovely monochromatic paintings.
Making this delicate work clearly requires a meditative state of mind on
the part of the painter, and a few moments in front of a Kraal painting
brings the viewer into a similarly peaceful state of mind. Kraal herself
radiates a serene intensity that is very much like her work, perhaps
partly as a result of her long involvement with Zen Buddhism.
Life was not always so peaceful for this native of the Netherlands. Born
in Rotterdam shortly before the outbreak of World War II, Kraal survived
the bombardments that left the center of the city in ruins, followed by
years of military occupation, widespread privation and deportation of
Jews. As a child, she trundled her doll carriage through the streets of
the devastated city, a cargo of black market potatoes hidden beneath the
doll's blankets. German soldiers sometimes stopped to admire her and her
doll, but fortunately never thought to examine the carriage further.
Shortly after the end of the war, Kraal surveyed the destruction in her
homeland and concluded that a new start in a new country would offer
better circumstances for beginning her adult life. She immigrated to Los
Angeles and studied acting under contract with 20th Century Fox, as well
as art and architecture at various institutions in the area. For her,
L.A. in the 1950s was a 21st Century city, unique with its easy access
both to the ocean and to mountains. She found it an easy place to live,
with new freedom in everything. She especially enjoyed the rich cultural
mix, with an easy blending of rich and poor, Latino and Anglo, and of
course many artists.
The Hollywood film industry scene proved not to be so congenial,
however. Kraal moved into the field of environmental design, working
with all aspects of environment: interior, exterior, visual and
philosophical. This work, while it provided stimulation and
opportunities for learning, was not ultimately satisfying. Another voice
was making itself heard with increasing insistence: Kraal's
long-standing desire to pursue painting as a profession.
Twenty-five years ago, Kraal made the decision to heed this call,
feeling, as she puts it, that she "had to." Driven by the need
for freedom to express herself, she began the process of finding her own
style. Although she had experimented with many forms in the early stages
of learning to paint, her work had always tended toward the reductive.
She describes her artistic development in the ensuing years as concerned
with "stripping things away, always doing less with more." In
the process, she says that she has been helped by her experience of
color and proportion in the world, as well as by staying open and
letting new ideas in.
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