From 2001 to 2003 the depiction of water lilies and ponds dominated the majority of Annemiek de Beer’s work. Her main concern was to capture light and the changing structures inherent within it. A logical follow-on from these interests was a more abstract mode of thought that can be witnessed in both the appearance of her work as well as her use of materials.
Her paintings consisted in this time of many thin layers of paint whereby the surface appears very polished. From 2004 onwards her work becomes ‘drier’ while structures remain significant as motifs of reeds, treetops and blades of grass recur time and again.
Also in relation to colour and texture, Annemiek de Beer follows a unique path, utilising withdrawn, cement schemes that yet retain a fresh and silky character. There slowly formed within her oeuvre an interest in the traditions of Japanese painting, with its linear and structural clarity and above all its elegant simplicity.
Presently she paints uncomplicated subjects from her direct surroundings. This depiction of rogue blades of grass as they appear from a cracks in a wall, or a clusters of blossom as they form on a tree branch, is where her challenge in painting lies.
