GERDA JACOBS | All things have their beauty

GERDA JACOBS
“All things have their beauty,
but not everyone can see them.” – Confucius

Gerda Jacobs was born in Maastricht, the Netherlands, and moved to France in 1985. From a very early age, she started to “tinker” with different materials, fabrics, wood, stone,…. She is fascinated by the possibilities of these materials. Years later, after an international career in marketing, she decided to devote herself to creation, the means to explore her inner self.
In 2008 and 2009, she trained as a mosaicist in Paris and deepened her contact with the material. The slowness and precision of the work correspond to the inner journey that Gerda needs. In 2009, she set up her first studio in the eighteenth arrondissement of Paris, and in 2012, she found the place that inspired her imagination in the southern Touraine (in the center of France). During this period, Gerda Jacobs developed her unique technique, using acid on zinc plates, inspired by one of the oldest and most important techniques -Engraving. She creates her works to reveal the hidden beauty of all surrounding us through raw and ordinary materials.
Gerda exhibits in numerous shows throughout Europe. In addition, her works are in private collections.

Gerda Jacobs’ art appeal to our unconsciousness as a door that opens to expressing our emotions.

Bringing this beauty to light is the precept adopted by Gerda Jacobs for her artistic activity. She is a Dutch visual artist who lives and works in the Loire area, France.
Her artistic style is abstract, using ordinary materials without any creative designation, such as zinc or concrete… Raw materials that can seem challenging and emotionless, to which she gives new meaning and direction. She wants to reveal their sensitivity.

Gerda directs us to what surrounds us, to the things we so often pass by without noticing or even looking at. Because changing the point of view opens up unexpected perspectives. She invents a very personal, unique technique inspired by engravers, using acid on zinc plates, and thus reveals their intrinsic beauty.
Her work on zinc is a dialogue. If she imposes her drawing, the material reacts in its own way. She is inspired by the organic and mineral world to return to the heart and essence of things.

Gerda looks for new possibilities of expression, pushing her own limits, looking for new types of material in her creations. Her color palette is deliberately limited, preferring black and white tones, thus favoring form and composition. The viewer is not influenced by color and faces purely material and impression. Ochre tones and rust are the only exceptions to that “rule,” thus showing her unique link with nature. Her abstract works appeal to our unconsciousness as a door that opens to expressing our emotions.
Her work invites us to a contemplative and serene vision of the world. A message of optimism is what Gerda wants to bring to the world.