During Art Island 2026, we will be exhibiting paintings by Mai van Oers and textile sculptures by Saar Scheerlings. The fair takes place in a unique setting: Forteiland, off the coast of IJmuiden. Mai van Oers The paintings of Mai van Oers (NL, 1953) tread a fine line between figuration and abstraction. They are worlds unto themselves, at once recognisable and alienating. The medium of oil paint plays a significant role. The brushstrokes range from subtle to raw to sculptural. At times, it is almost like modelling with paint. The paintings emerge through a slow process that organically develops towards a final result. It is a constant search for the right composition, colour and texture. Yet it is not the labour-intensive nature of the work that stands out in the paintings. Rather, it seems as though they were created with the greatest of ease. Van Oers usually paints landscapes. Her latest paintings are snowy landscapes. These works play with the way we look at things. They are analyses of how something is constructed, how one depicts something credibly. But one can also see them as a representation of the way one remembers a landscape, namely as a whole of colours and elements that naturally form a unified whole. Mai van Oers’ work is included in various corporate and museum collections, including Bouwfonds, Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, Teylers Museum and Centraal Museum Utrecht.
Saar Scheerlings We are also exhibiting talisman sculptures by Saar Scheerlings (NL, 1990). These works reveal a process of unveiling, concealing and transforming. They are meticulously crafted through cutting, sewing, stuffing and knotting. Her artworks are transparent about how they are created. The creative process is an integral part of the final work, and her artworks exude a great joy in creation.
Scheerlings’ work is often triggered by the beauty and dedication of old materials like the antique linens she finds at garage sales in the French countryside where she lives. With a laborious process of sculpting, cutting, sewing and weaving she breathes new life into these materials, transforming them into her monumental talisman sculptures.
Weaving is not only a technique for Saar, it is a metaphor for her entire work. She sees her oeuvre as an expanding structure. She not only creates work, she works on her own culture. The work of Saar Scheerlings has been shown in various international galleries and museums including CoBrA Museum Amstelveen, Design Museum Gent, Hanwha Galleria Seoul, Tripostal Lille, Galerie Fleur & Wouter, Valerius Gallery, HAGD Contemporary, Garage Rotterdam and at Palais de Tokyo, Paris, as a finalist for the prestigious Loewe Foundation Craft Prize.