Vision

Since 2005, Nadine Callebaut has explored the passage of time and human presence in her
work. An uninterrupted sequence of typed dates forms the foundation of her oeuvre. Day
after day, she works backwards through time, paying tribute to ordinary people and the
generations that came before us.

This underlying timeline is the backbone of every work. Thousands of dates, typed one by
one, are mounted onto wooden panels. Even when concealed by subsequent layers, they
remain an inseparable part of the work. The past is not merely its subject; it is quite literally
the ground from which the figures emerge.

Her works develop slowly, through successive layers of grisaille, transparent layers of paint
and subtle oil glazes. Through repetition, concealment, removal and renewed revelation,
timeless figures emerge that cannot be confined to any single moment.

The faces are stripped of overt emotion and individual identity. Through the use of sfumato,
contours blur, forms partially dissolve and underlying layers remain visible. A continual
interplay emerges between presence and disappearance.

At the heart of her work lies the desire to make the human presence felt once more, despite
the inevitable passage of time.

Not portraits, but memories of humanity, beyond time and individual identity. Like memories
themselves, the figures have no sharply defined boundaries. They emerge and fade,
somewhere between presence and disappearance.

Galerie VCRB
Burburestraat 14
2000 Antwerpen
+32 475 34 82 38

contemporary art gallery

Nadine Callebaut
Sint Lucas Gent

2000 to today: various galleries and art fairs in Europe
As of 2015, exclusively in Antwerp and Knokke at the Van Campen & Rochtus Gallery