Exhibitions

Work by Berber Oostenbrug

In 1998 Berber started a series of photographs and paintings with the title "De Meisjes Droom" -A little girl's Dream-. The series shows a small girl dreaming/playing to be a princess. In the works that followed you see the girl growing up and slowly the theme changes. The work is still about dreams and illusions, but something is added, presumptions, power and seduction in a very sensitive way.

The woman in the series "Berber Collectibles" is like the little girl wanting to be a princess but now she is grown up and she wants to create her own identity, despite all the desires she should actually fulfill to be a modern woman dominated by a commercial world. The irony lies in the fact that there is a resemblance with a very famous doll which is an icon for the commercial industry.
Showing that a different dress or skin colour doesn't change the person, you can play with identity, but it's still the same "doll". Berber doesn't want to depict the modern woman the way we are used to her by commercials; as sex-doll or man-wife, not young and wild but as a woman with a sense of humour who can play with her own identity and therefore be a true 'Berber Collectible'. 

These themes: 'dreams', 'illusions', 'creating my own world', stay a focal point in everything Berber makes. Japan and it's gorgeous textiles, kabuki and geisha, a great source of inspiration. Clothing/fashion/design in general, just as theater and fine arts and of course girls! are her inspiration.

Berber makes commissioned work as well; she has done so for people overseas and in Europe. Many variations are possible; she has made portraits of young children which were very playful, subtly showing the character of the child, but also using old wedding photos from which she brought back old and sweet memories. You can see some examples in Berbers paintings section. All sizes are possible and it can be done on a canvas or as a scroll painting. If you would like to have more information about Berber's commissioned works you can ask her more questions here

Berber Oostenbrug Amsterdam, 2006