at second glance
There is more to Rolina Nell’s painting than first meets the eye. Her visually delightful painting technique does not entirely disguise an intriguing undercurrent in which emotions float freely and vital questions lie dormant. Women of all cultures take centre stage, or are represented by motifs that traditionally belong to women, such as laundry and playgrounds. She denies consciously choosing a feminist line of approach. The theme derives from her womanhood, from her sisterly engagement.

method and painting technique
The method, palette and painting technique are entirely in the service of expressiveness and profundity. The carefully considered choices are in contrast to the ease with which the beautiful images seem to be created.
Rolina Nell begins by selecting and printing a suitable photograph, for which she draws on the archive she has built up through observation. She makes a drawing of this, the same size as the future mural or painting. Initially, she used to incorporate decorative material in the paintings, such as fabrics, wallpaper or flowers and her palette ranged from saturated colours to almost white. The atmosphere changes after 2004. Contrast, depth effect and transparency temporarily allow the works to breath and give them openness, both literally and figuratively. Since 2007 she first applies a thin, transparent layer of acrylic paint. On top of that comes the painting. For this, she always uses a stencil for the female figures, which are often life-sized, sometimes in a smaller format. Thus, sharply defined fields are created within which structures and carefully applied brushstrokes are visible. Then comes the work with smaller brushes. For this, she applies details such as jewellery, handbags, or stitching and patterns in the clothing. Finally she adds subtle shadows. This attentive painting technique is crucial, because of its consistency with the content-related aspects of the work.
The painting technique is constantly developing. Nell strives for a loose, apparently effortless style of painting, without hesitation in the brushstroke. This requires extreme concentration, as it has to succeed in one go. The discrepancy between physical, almost abstract brushstrokes

and the detailing increases, but the effect of transparency is also examined more closely. Her contrary handling of space and depth are an even more fascinating aspect of her painting technique. The illusion of depth is accentuated in parts of the painting, while in other areas it is in fact subtly counteracted. Nell paints with thin acrylic paint but wishes, in the near future, to explore older materials and techniques. She is particularly interested in painting with tempera on canvas or applying frescos to walls. This is in keeping with her search for painterly interventions that allow flat, two-dimensional murals to be experienced as three-dimensional.

sources of inspiration
Rolina Nell finds her inspiration in everyday life in the Netherlands and other countries. During her travels she incorporates other customs and social atmospheres like a cultural nomad. She is fascinated by the hidden tensions that she suspects or experiences all around her. This raises questions about the veracity of visual reality. In the past she used apparently idyllic tableaux from newspapers and magazines. These days she makes her own photos on the streets, which she selects according to atmosphere, composition or pose. Ideas will frequently germinate during the photography, which come to the surface later through the meaningful method of painting.

theme and motifs
Rolina Nell isolates women from their everyday environment. The contours of the figures serve as a recognizable visual form. For this, she can devote herself entirely to painterly research, while the subsequent detailing provides the painting pleasure. Both the figurative details and the painting technique offer indications as to the content. The first mysterious, life-sized views of women’s backs originated during her travels through Georgia in 2007. The absence of the faces, the clothing and the pose all raise questions. Though very subtly and culturally specific, something of the personality still remains visible. Thus, even the black chador of an Iranian woman in the painting ‘Cocoon’ reveals something of >