Today we’d like to introduce you to Yvonne Jongeling.
Yvonne, we’d love to hear your story and how you got to where you are today both personally and as an artist.
Nail polish got me started. As a kid, I would scrape together a pocket full of nickels by cashing in bottles at Lou’s liquor store, then proudly saunter over to the Zody’s on Valley Blvd to trade my coins for nail polish. Every color of polish. This was my kind of paint since it stuck to everything and it sparkled.
I covered everything in nail polish, from Barbies to transistor radios. My Dutch parents, still learning the ways of America, we’re puzzled by their first-born daughter’s artsy tendencies, but they still encouraged me to be independent and creative while plying me with old-world Zoute Drop licorice treats that tasted like wonderful salty car tires. Mmm!
Dixie appeared when I was seventeen. She was my high school art teacher. Dixie helped me to understand how priceless a formal art education could be, and she steered me towards Cal State Long Beach, where I earned a Masters in Art.
Currently, I continue to explore many mediums: photography, ceramics, oils, watercolors, pastels, acrylics and construction. My creative boundaries are ever-expanding as they lead me towards new unknown territory.
We’d love to hear more about your art. What do you do and why and what do you hope others will take away from your work?
Squares are my favorite art shapes. I fill them with meticulously-crafted paintings, low-relief sculptures, and constructions of all sorts. Working with canvas, paint, plumbing hardware, wood, Original Gourmet lollypops or paper, I configure moments of my life and present them through dynamic images. Sculpted waffles find themselves glued to a canvas; faces of babies act as counterpoint to an acrylic reworking of the Home Depot logo.
Female identity appears regularly in my work, linked with historical art references, pop culture and the polarities of life and death. The subject matter is as prominent as my choice of artist’s materials.
Deeply multi-media, my pieces weave through the wide span of my thoughts, leaving the viewer to conjure their own meanings, memories and mental images.
Recently, I’ve been exploring fluid shapes and color in a series of abstract expressionist paintings. By layering glazes of acrylic inks, I bring luminosity to the canvas. The color-laden results are my responses to the sights, sounds and smells of an emotional past.
The stereotype of a starving artist scares away many potentially talented artists from pursuing art – any advice or thoughts about how to deal with the financial concerns an aspiring artist might be concerned about?
Don’t wear nail polish. It chips off when you make art!
My advice to others is the same as my advice to myself. Keep an open mind to all possibilities. When it comes to artmaking, anything goes. Use materials and ideas that will lead you down curious paths. Los Angeles is having a contemporary art boom, and we’re fortunate to witness the experimentation. Visit galleries and museums to be inspired!
Do you have any events or exhibitions coming up? Where would one go to see more of your work? How can people support you and your artwork?
People can experience and support my artwork by diving into my social media accounts, joining me at my gallery openings and contacting me about a studio visit. My current art pieces are displayed at YvonneJongeling.com, and they are available for collectors to purchase. You can also commission custom artwork by contacting me online.
I’m easily found on Facebook and Instagram, where I post updates about my gallery shows and various art discoveries and experiences across Los Angeles. My next event will be an abstract art exhibit on Artsakh Avenue in Glendale, California in May 2020.
Contact Info:
- Website: yvonnejongeling.com
- Phone: 818-692-1576
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/yvonnejongeling/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/yvonne.jongeling.50
Image Credit:
Yvonne Jongeling
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