EMBERS
17.03.2022 to 03.04.2022
Galleria Himmelblau
ELIZABETH VAN SCHAIK
Elizabeth van Schaik (b. 1994) is a visual artist specialising in painting, drawing and performance. She became interested in becoming an artist after realising that the career of corporate finance was not stimulating enough. Van Schaik always had a thirst for knowledge and a need for constant improvement. This is what drove her to the art world where innovation and creation are limited only by one’s own imagination and skills.
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Van Schaik has previously achieved the recognition of academic talents from John’s Hopkins University’s youth talented search at the age of 14. She graduated from Mattlidens International Baccalaureate (IB) school. She attended Moscow State Surikov Academy of Fine Arts and is now graduating from Tampere University of Applied Sciences (TAMK) in Fine Art study path. She additionally has curatorial and project management experience in the art industry.
STORY OF A MAIDEN
Story of a Maiden explores Van Schaik’s ancestral heritage and focuses on the history of Greece from ancient times to modern times and the question of the position of women in the society. It is a paradox where women are pillars of the society as mothers and wives and especially as single mothers who stand largely underappreciated in the grand temple of society.
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Story of a Maiden tells the story of a caryatid, a young woman who is a column, and who witnesses her civilization rise, blossom, get destroyed by Turkish wars and finally be liberated with gradual improvement of her stance within the society.
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It is about exploring and empowering women through dance via a mix of contemporary dance elements, as well as Greek folk dances like zeibekiko - a male solo dance and sirtaki. It displays the strength, loneliness and perseverance of women throughout eternity. The artwork aims to inspire the improvements in the position of women not just in Greek society but globally.