The new artworks series by Suzanne Beek are inspired by still lives of Dutch 17th century artists. It is the craftsmanship, the orientation towards nature’s beauty and simple objects, that the artist is intrigued by. In our society we tend  to overlook the precious things of nature and forget the meaning of objects of past generations. Tik-Tok and other social media have created a restless society, thirsty for new images and new objects. The artist work is a contemplation of our time and how to give meaning.

The flowers in this artwork were 'handpicked' by the artist from 17th century artworks. The artists added new elements and during the painting process she played with shadow and color, to create a contemporary interpretation of still life. The work also refers to the artist's youth in Kenya.

Suzanne Beek's works are based on oil paintings on panel made by her using 17th century techniques. Starting in a two-tone scheme the painting is built up layer-upon-layer. In this way some layers can be added with a thicker coat of paint and others in very thin layers (glacis), leaving the background shining through. 

The finished painting is scanned and printed on Hahnemühle fine art paper. The built up of the artwork in 3D starts hereafter. Using several prints of the same artwork, the cut-out process starts, which takes many days. Hereafter the work is carefully built up in 3D. To protect and structure the work, the artist has covered the work with an UV protected Perspex box.