Bella Tchicourel

Bloom and Movement in the Work of Bella Tchicourel What do tulips, dance, and portraits have in common? All three tell a story of change, movement, and blossoming—brief, yet radiant. These are the themes that run through the paintings of Bella Tchicourel. In the first half of 2004, she made her debut in a group exhibition in The Hague, followed by solo exhibitions in Maastricht and New York. The tulip, in all its forms and appearances, is combined with elements of domestic life: a bucket, a fluttering curtain behind which a woman looks outside, a hint of floral wallpaper, a fragment of an old tile panel, a piece of text still faintly visible. A striking feature is the transparency. A composition of translucent layers creates depth and suggests that there is still more to discover. This effect is further enhanced by the use of fleeting lines and expressive brushstrokes. There is movement within the captured moment; the story continues. This sense of movement is expressed particularly strongly in the series of paintings inspired by dance. The dancing figures seem ready to continue their choreography at any moment, as though they have paused only for an indivisible instant.