TORCH is happy to present Finity, an exhibition of new photographs by Ellen Kooi. Her cinematic images present a modern variation on the classic theme of ‘figure in landscape’, exploring the compelling connection between people and their natural environment. While Ellen continues to draw our attention to the beauty and diversity of the Dutch countryside, the atmosphere in her new works is more dire than before. The artist confronts us with the fact that everything is finite. Not only will these models lose their youth and beauty and will the seasons change, but with the way we are treating our planet, the environment will irreversibly alter. Let’s enjoy these landscapes while they’re still here, and let’s be more conscious of (the fragility of) our surroundings.

The photographs reference different periods in art history: Dutch 17th-century painting can be recognised in the typically dramatic skies, and the insignificance of man in relation to nature is reminiscent of the German Romanticism of the 18th century. While historically, both artists and models were mostly men, Ellen Kooi consciously uses female protagonists in her scenes that are carefully composed and lit, but also deeply personal. Every artwork is an artefact of a moment shared by the artist and her model. Sometimes, her models are positioned in order to become one with the landscape, while others pose to cause friction with the environment. The viewer is invited to interpret the connection between person and nature, or interior and exterior, in their own way.

Different photographs by Ellen show contrasting consequences of contemporary human treatment of the planet. The piece ‘Rode Lagune’ presents a dried up lagoon, while ‘Den Helder – hoog water’ shows a group of people trapped on an island due to high water. A human might be insignificant and vulnerable in the context of overwhelming nature, but humankind has the power to either destroy or preserve it. Ellen Kooi’s artworks are a call to reconnect with our environment.

About the Artist

With a background as a theatre and dance photographer, Ellen Kooi (1962, NL) developed an eye for body language that she applies in her autonomous photography. She seeks the border between reality and fiction in her large-scale panoramas. Ellen is represented by TORCH, Les Filles du Calvaire in Paris, Camara Oscura in Madrid and Espacio Liquido in Gijon / North Carolina.
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