Iris Schomaker

Iris Schomaker's distinctive style of figuration is intricately intertwined with abstraction, employing bold graphic forms and composite anthropomorphism. Her radical approach to figurative-abstraction incorporates collected samples of visual culture, such as photographs, newspaper clippings, and ephemera from her studio that serve as references for grounding her figures in reality. The influence of Chinese and Japanese ink drawing and wood prints, as well as European artists like Henri Matisse, is palpable in Schomaker's interplay of line and form. Schomaker's artworks often feature still figures in reclining or relaxed poses, frequently accompanied by an animal. The artist describes these scenes as "private moments", carefully distilled through a meticulous process of reduction. Schomaker deliberately employs a limited color palette to present her figures in their most simplified form. Her artistic process typically involves creating a series of drawings, selecting the most successful ones to be translated into large-scale charcoal works, and then progressing to mixed-media techniques. Consequently, Schomaker's artworks bear the marks of her diverse working methods, revealing pencil strokes and strong graphic outlines, resulting in a surface that bears witness to her artistic process.