Nails ‘n Roses, The Hudson Review, 1991



Janise Yntema’s installation at Oculus, entitled Landscape 1991, provides the viewer a passage into the tumultuous (dis)harmony of the environment as well the inevitable change implicit in everyday life. The artist juxtaposes sand, glass wire, spikes and live roses with a dark moody abstract paintings. Her incorporation of these found and manufactured elements floating in front of the canvas forces the notion of chaos into the realm of order.


The focal point within this suspended field of seemingly random elements is a frame, providing the spectator a point of calm; an opportunity t compose and be composed. As one’s position changes within the viewing plane, new orders emerge and disappear, From a distance, the painting as the primary element is clearly and expressionistic field with the upper right panel bathed in sunlight. But as a closer examination ensues, the painting becomes a palette for the organic and inorganic elements placed between the viewer and canvas. Through this complex examination, Yntema has provided a mysterious and unsettling glimpse into the larger reality of nature and life and mankind’s obsession to destroy it.