Artist statement

Luca Fay van de Laar is a painter and performer born Eindhoven, the Netherlands. She graduated from Fine Art at the St Joost School of Art & Design in 2024. She studies abroad as an Erasmus student at the performance department at KASK in Ghent. For her internship she went to Germany to work on a Natural horsemanship specialised farm. It is important for Van de Laar to have a counterpart to her painting practice that is dynamic and communicative. She finds this counterpart in collaborative performances and working on a farm with horses. The clarity, calmness, physicality, and sensitivity required to be a good leader for horses are qualities she brings into her painting practice. She sees parallels in working with horses and working as an artist.

Van de Laar often paints horses and other animals in combination with humans, depicted in reclining or rotating poses. Currently, Van de Laar works in Breda, where she is connected to two care horses that she visits several times a week. She hopes to continue her exploration of horses and painting simultaneously, with occasional performances complementing her work.

There is a visible tendency between transience and meticulousness, with soft brushstrokes creating dreamy, delicate images. The relationships between the subjects are not entirely clear; the paintings emit an atmosphere that can be felt. It is not important for the painting to be understood; what matters is that you try to sense what is happening—much like with a horse. You will never truly know the other, but you can attempt to understand, more importantly, trust your feeling.

When I walk down the street, sit in a café, wander through nature, or look out my window, I hope to catch sight of a dog, cat, horse, squirrel, crow, pigeon, or perhaps a rabbit, and be momentarily drawn into their movements and gaze. It fascinates me how they live with us, how they too participate in this system, and how we observe them. How we keep them, possess them, love them, punish them, control them, teach them, feed them, or film them. And I wonder how they feel, what they think of it all, and what clues make these feelings or thoughts visible or tangible.

Eric van Ewijk from stichting Tiny V

Luca is verwonderd en geïnspireerd door “het leven op aarde”, planten, dieren, mensen. Ze getuigt met haar wonderzacht geschilderde doeken van haar liefde voor alles wat leeft en waarin zij – af en toe en heel voorzichtig- mensen toelaat. Paarden hebben tot nu toe een speciaal plekje. Dieren kunnen niets maskeren en Luca vindt juist deze eigenschap zo de moeite waard dat ze die wil vangen in haar schilderijen. Dieren leren haar focus, intuïtie en in het moment zijn. Dagelijkse beelden worden tot scenes gemaakt die refereren aan de werkelijkheid. Ze combineert alledaagse beelden tot collage- achtige olieverfschilderijen die een verstild, vervreemdend effect oproepen. Noemde Luca haar praktijk enkele jaren geleden nog een krioelend geporzel, waarmee ze vooral de ideeën- drukte in haar hoofd bedoelde, daar is in haar kalme, heldere en sensitieve schilderijen niets meer van te zien.