“A strange delight” by Nikki Pelaez

From 6 October 2019 to 5 January 2020, Museum Valkenburg will display works by Nikki Pelaez (1969) in the upper room of the museum. Nikki studied Spatial Design at the Academy of Visual Arts in Maastricht. She grew up in Spain, but has been living and working in Maastricht for a number of years now.

By mastering different drawing and painting techniques in combination with real visual material, Nikki Pelaez creates an enigmatic world in which the theme of innocence (and the loss thereof) is central. Her work is full of contradictions, both in terms of content and in terms of form and technology. Themes such as; familiarity and alienation, innocence and corruption, connectedness and loneliness play a role. Nikki Pelaez builds her works from different layers. She uses existing visual material as a starting point. Especially photos she takes of children and young people. In addition, she occasionally uses old photos from the family album, ‘vintage’ postcards or pieces from old paintings. This material is processed in various ways, for example by combining different images in a collage-like way, or by adding pieces of photo to a drawing.

The result of this process is magnified in black and white and then she goes to work with more traditional media such as ink, paint, watercolor, charcoal and pastel chalk. Different drawing and painting techniques are discussed. The line drawing (often in white, sometimes in black) that is placed last forms a kind of mystical second reality that makes the work deeper or more layered. In this way she achieves an intense personal visual language that was already visible in her earlier cinematic work. Nikki Pelaez knows how to turn everyday life into a special experience with her creative talent.