Anje Roosjen

paintings of cloned children

Anje Roosjen makes paintings based on manipulated photographs of children. This can be exisiting images or her own photographs (India, Japan). The images are stripped of details and context, cleaned up and made symmetrical. By repeating the same figure, often tightly holding hands, a new image of cloned children is created. Superior, but also frigthening because of the unnatural symmetry (but which is almost obsessive to maintain in a painting, unlike digital images).

In my work I have been searching for symmetry. The basis of my paintings are photographs of children, most of them almost symmetrical. In photoshop I make them exactly symmetrical, which can make a big difference in the final stare of the child. And I remove irregularities and insignificant details, adding features like a nose of Barbie, white synthetic skin. By repeating this new, constructed face over and over again, in multiple paintings I am in a way first trying to master or acquire this new face, make it my own. Furthermore I have tried to deduce a universal beauty, waiting for it to rise to the surface, convinced that because of the repetition the best or most beautiful girl will select it self.
But the girls would only absolutely look-a-like when I made my sketches in photoshop, just by easily copy-pasting them. A lot of times my sketches are roughly copy pasted collages of photographs and details of previous paintings. When I started painting the girls they never looked a like anymore, it was very frustrating, it made me question the use of painting them at all. They seem to be determined to live a life of their own. It made me think of cloning. I am trying to copy paste elements of beauty and believe that the outcome will be the ultimate beautiful girl.
Cloning is about assembling the perfect features, the best DNA and ultimately resulting in setting a new, much higher standard of beauty and health. But in this lies so much tragedy.

Anje Roosjen (1975) lives and works in Amsterdam. After her studies at the Rietveld art academy and University of Amsterdam, she did artist in residence projects in Russia, Japan and India. She has exhibited in The Netherlands and internationally (ao. Hatchobori Open Studio, Tokyo and Horst Janssen Museum, Oldenburg, Germany.) and organizes projects and exhibitions.

website: www.anjeroosjen.com