Sjoerd Bras
Sjoerd Bras was born in Voorburg, The Netherlands.
“I was fascinated by art from an early age. From my 10th birthday on, I went to the Royal Academy of Fine Arts (KABK) in The Hague on Saturdays.
“After high school, I started drawing and painting day and evening with teachers in Laren. After an intense period, I started studying at the KABK in The Hague. Following that, I found a great studio extending to 23 metres by 12 metres. I lived off art, occasionally large commissions, such as a sculpture 8.5m high at the entrance of the Johan Willem Friso Kazerne in Assen.
“Together with my wife, Henriette Dingemans, who is also an artist, I also created walls in the Erasmus Hospital in Rotterdam, the Council for Child Protection in Rotterdam, and more public commissions.
“In 2006 I moved to Huizen where I live with my wife and son, who is now studying in Leeuwarden. I was quite ill for a while more recently, but fortunately I'm back on top and more active than ever in my work. In 2019 I showed two paintings at de Summer Exhibition in Museum the Fundatie in Zwolle in the Netherlands.
In 2022 I became a member of the artists' association Arti et Amicitiae in Amsterdam, where I was able to show my work. I was selected as a finalist for the Arte Laguna Prize, and as a result my work was shown at the Arte Laguna exhibition at the Arsenale in Venice from March 11 to April 16, 2023.
6 july I had here a solo exhibition in MoCA in Venice organized by Arte Laguna and MoCa for a month.
My work can be called figurative, I look for a world behind reality, the intangible.
To the life behind the curtain that you have no control over. While painting I come across things that lift a veil but still remain elusive. It can be of all times, present, past, but also the world different from ours.
Color is important, for me color has an emotional value, it determines the path your feeling takes.
My paintings are often large in size, I also feel in my element on a small size
Lately I've been using stones in my paintings. This is the result of my fascination with stones that I found on the heath.
As an artist I recognized the processing of these stones. Faces of strange creatures, etc. I suspect that they were carved by Germanic tribes and thrown at four-forked dirt roads as an offering to their gods.
I have already written 3 books about these stones. If you want to read this, a PDF is available on my website www.sjoerdbras.nl
I have become so at one with the feeling that these stones radiate, that I started using them in my paintings and make it easy for me to visualize difficult experiences but also beautiful ones.
WHO I AM
Painting is fascinating and leads works like a meditation.
Education
Royal Academy of Fine Arts (KABK) 1975-1980
Exhibitions
Arte Laguna exhibition at the Arsenale in Venice from March 11 to April 16, 2023. finalist
Solo exhibition in MoCA in Venice organized by Arte Laguna and MoCa for a month. 6 july 2023
Tricore Design Hub 1 december2023 Milaan
Galery Soho Sweden
Artie et Amicitae Amsterdam 2025
Galery Soho Sweden 2026
Libary Huizen Netherlands and a reading about my work and life
