Artists From The Mill At Shady Lea

#Meettheartist

Meet Eric van der Vlugt

"By elevating the things we take for granted to an iconic, epic scale, make the otherwise unremarkable into things of wonder."

Tell us your artist story, some biographical info, when did you decide to be an artist? Why do you make art? Where did you study? Etc.

 I was born in The Netherlands and grew up in Laren, a small village outside Amsterdam. The village was made famous by the “Larensche School” of landscape painters (like Jozef Israels and Anton Mauve) who flocked there because of the vibrant purple heather and silver birches. Even the streets were named after painters. So at a very early age I knew wanted to be an artist - how could it have gone differently? I studied traditional printmaking Atelier Mashuff in Brussels, Belgium, before coming to Philadelphia College of Art, where I graduated with a BFA in printmaking. I have taught at Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA), West Chester University and Philadelphia College of Art, and today my studio practice is primarily focused on drawing and painting.

What do you want people to walk away with after experiencing your work?

I would like people to remember what it was like to be curious, to discover in ordinary objects and simple human situations the quiet grace we knew had been there all along. To remind them that old, simple truths live on. By elevating the things we take for granted to an iconic, epic scale, make the otherwise unremarkable into things of wonder.

What influences your work? Why?

The question for me really is how to make sense of the world and my place in it, and how to filter, synthesize and express the beauty I see through my work. 

What does it mean to you to participate in Hera as an exhibiting artist for the In God We Trust exhibition?

                                                                  

In as much as America is the great melting pot (until recently), it stands to reason that it also represents the great blending of religious precepts. The idea for the show excited because I painted Maia and her mother Adrienne willfully in the Christian tradition of Madonna and Child, but instead of the iconic golden halo, I introduced the zodiac with its sign positions exactly as they were at Maia’s birth. Maia and Hera also moved in the same circles in Greek mythology. In short, the show begs the question whether dogma or spirit will come to rule the day - after all, Maia’s intellectual growth is going to be informed by her immediate and unfettered access to mankind’s collective knowledge, traditions and spiritual beliefs. 

Eric's website has more of his work for you to see: https://www.ericvandervlugt.com/