Anne Von Freyburg

Words by Katie Farley

Anne Von Freyburg is a mixed media artist who was born in 1979 in Velp, Netherlands. Her visually expressive and thought-provoking creative installations contain an amalgamation of varying media techniques that include sanding, painting, embroidery, and textiles. An expression of the artist’s outlook on life along with her evolving search for meaning and methods of dealing with it is constantly showcased throughout Anne’s work.

Freyburg’s fundamental interests portray the notion of revealing the subject, using the method of sanding away, reflecting the intention of disguising areas of a picture. Throughout the upcoming artist’s works, the imagery of young boys and girls are revealed but these are sanded and distorted to suggest a reaction against our issues of today, depicting a particular illusion of beauty and its perfection amid the creation of fashion advertising. The surface of the photograph is sanded down to expose the superficiality of the image to, therefore, demonstrate an underlying sense of vulnerability, fragility, and imperfection.

Reconstruction of the image takes place after the sanding process and is gradually achieved by hand in order to illustrate the difference between aggressive, fast media and sensitive, slow media. Freyburg then applies needlework to repair the canvas which adds an additional layer of the image. This technique is representative of the somewhat neglected crafts that were used by nuns, who on mystical cloths embroidered in solitude and silence. The importance of steadiness, dedication, and meaning to live are elements the artist wishes to convey when applying these delicate dexterities.

An impression of mystery is the explored concept behind Anne Von Freyburg’s recent works, entitled ‘Beautiful Disaster’, where a series of classical nude-poses is intermixed with modern photography. These latest masterpieces signify how the human anatomy is depicted throughout history. Embroidery, a typical women’s craftsmanship, is exposed amid the paintings and is indicative of the position women attain today and obtained in earlier history. With the integration of all the combined medias which not only holds a critical meaning but it is also an acknowledgment to the beauty of embroidered crafts. By applying it in painting, Freyburg strives to present these crafts with a diverse status. The result of her recent works is a beautiful yet dark and distorted femininity. annevonfreyburg.com