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Untitled is a portrait of a woman with closed eyes, a work of large and imposing dimensions.  What is visible, what is not?  Van de Ven operates in that middle-ground between what one may suspect and feel, but still find difficult to precisely describe.  The portrait offers the viewer a multiplicity of possible associations.

We can't look the portrayed figure right in the eye, so to speak; it' impossible to establish contact that way.  Nonetheless, the shut eyes indeed do allow us to construct our own associations: sleep, death, concentration, self-reflection, shame, daydreams, visions...  From out of our own experience, knowledge, biography and powers of observation, each of us may tap into our own imaginative connections.   

Instead of instant consumption of media-images, van de Ven aims to initiate an interpretation process on the part of the viewer: a process that demands time and attention - so settle back with a coffee and ponder at your ease!