Mayke Sassen - Provence, France
A visual artist I studied the Beaux Arts and Theater in Amsterdam, although esentially an autodidact, I was influenced by the COBRA, notably by Corneille. I was a drama teacher for years before dedicating exclusively to visual arts. At http://www.maykesassen.com one can see the very eclectic nature of my work influenced by these different life experiences, the world in which I have lived and expressed my art. Living in different areas of Provence for the past fifteen years I now live deep in the Massif des Maures mountain range overlooking the Gulf of Saint Tropez.
Although I have the most often shunned the public eye, preferring to work on commissions and through a network of collectors who over years and continents have absorbed most of my work, I have engaged in successful exhibitions in Holland, Japan and Nigeria. For the past ten years I have had a “living gallery” with my husband, a “Hotel de Charme” in the Luberon region of Provence. The flow and appreciation of the Auberge’ guests and the insatiable appetite of some for my work has reconciled my timidity from the public eye. Visit the inn’s website I designed in illustrative form and the artwork in and about the rooms : it’s another dimension to my portfolio http://www.auberge-presbytere.com.
Beyond the private collections for the most part in Europe and a few in California and Florida, I have works in many corners of the world to include Imperial College in London, the University of Louvain in Belgium, Shell headquarters in Lagos Nigeria and Shell Center London.
I paint from a passion to get to know who and where I am.
I once had a dream, I was on stage giving a brilliant performance.
At the end, I noticed that the curtain had been closed during the session.
I want to open that curtain and share.
Photography:
Viviane Sassen, http://www.vivianesassen.com
