BIO

Sasja Hagens (Utrecht, 1973) lives and works in Rotterdam. She started her art education in 1991 in Utrecht at the School of Arts. In 1992 she was selected for the Royal School of Arts in The Hague (in field Drawing & Painting), where she graduated in 1996. 

With strong colours and daring compositions, Sasja Hagens gives her own interpretation to the themes of harbourscapes, industrial- and future landscapes. Hagens: 'People sometimes ask me why I've spent so much time painting ports, such an obvious theme. But their size and industrial quality light the fire in me.' Hagens' focus is on future landscapes now. At the moment she is developing a new future landscapes-series about the tantalising interaction between wild nature and industrial influences. 

Her paintings are in collection of (a.o.) Maritime Museum Rotterdam, City Hall Rotterdam, ECT Rotterdam, Arcadis and Deloitte The Netherlands.

Her work is also widely exhibited, for example during a big solo exhibition at Duolun (MOMA) in Shanghai, Habitare in Helsinki, Oblast Art Museum Kemerovo (Russia), Museu Maritim in Barcelona, Kunsthalle Trier, Germany and Gallery Neuberg Arts Hong Kong.

MUSEUMS
Museum Boijmans van Beuningen 
Maritiem Museum Rotterdam 
MoMa Duolun Museum Shanghai 
Museu Maritím Barcelona
CBK Rotterdam
Tongerlohuys Roosendaal
Oblast Art Museum Kemerovo (Russia) Kunsthalle Trier, Germany

GALLERIES
Neuberg Gallery Hong Kong 
Gallery Montmartre Paris 
anOTHERart Gallery Rome 
MPV Gallery ’s Hertogenbosch  Gallery Untitled Rotterdam 
Maas Gallery Rotterdam

COMMISSIONS

Port of Rotterdam Witteveen+Bos Rijkswaterstaat Goodfuels Amsterdam
AKD Advocaten 
Deloitte
Arcadis Hertel
Damen Shipyard
ABN Amro Bank
CE Delft
Shanghai Construction Group 
MTR Hong Kong
ESPO Brussels 
Biezepol Staal 
Cityhall of Rotterdam

ARTIST STATEMENT

‘A SENSE OF SHIP’

The port theme

The port is about adventure, about coming home, about loss, about joy and life energy. An inexhaustible theme, a classic. Just like nudes and flower still life paintings.

I have been painting the port for about 25 years now. I make colorful paintings in several sizes. From intimate paintings to wall sized monumental works. Recently I finished a series of table sized translucent sculptures.

How my work developed

My earlier paintings are usually large and contain a lot of structures and materials. The Herculean thinking about the port and cranes is really in there; man puts nature to his will. Ships as a metaphor for how humans design the world to our imagination. The bigger the better. And that is how I made my paintings as well. Large volumes using a lot of materials. The ship as protagonist and the background supporting the image.

Now I have a different view on things. I am fascinated by harmony in the port surroundings. Although I am still enthusiastic about how we can use engineering for the benefit of our life,I now prefer a more balanced approach. I ask myself the question: “ In which landscape will we feel at home in the future?”.  I wonder what will we experience as a natural landscape?. In my current work, I look for those specific atmospheres or moments. Like sunlight shining on the water, or and reflections on a ship.

Working process

The conceptual turnaround of how I see the world led to a different working routine as well. I create conditions in composition and process. Let chaos happen, stay open-minded, keep calm, and finally take back control. Besides I truly enjoy this working method, it also leads to a work of art that you could never have imagined beforehand. I am becoming the artist I want to be while my journey searching for a ‘sense of ship’ continues. 

Sasja Hagens 2023

‘My father, grandfather and great-grand father are all marine educated, sailors, or pilots stationed at the Surinam river Paramaribo. I see myself as a 4th generation sailor. Proud of where I came from and excited to share my colours with you.’ -SASJA HAGENS

INTERVIEW: SASJA HAGENS

Kunstenaar.nl

Author: Ilse Knol

www.kunstenaar.nl

You use strong colours and bold compositions. What role do colour and composition play in your work?

The lead role, the supporting role and the props. Ha, are you kidding, everything! Colour gives meaning, emotion, atmosphere, character, and so on. Composition and colour come straight from my heart and the longer I am at it, the more I have come to trust that part of my work process. The abstract values of a painting like colour and composition, that's where my story lies. That's about me. Not in the literal filling in of ideas. I think with my hands. I let go, imagination follows, and only well after that comes my story. My words like these emerge from my production process, and never vice versa. I am a maker.

What appeal do ports have to you, and how do you explain that?

I have been painting the port for about 25 years now. An inexhaustible theme, a classic. Just like nudes and flower still life paintings. The port theme is about adventure, about coming home, about loss, about joy and life energy. Every day I have the illusion that I am going to create something new. A new idea about a material, about the subject, about abstraction or something else. My work has the same theme, but the development is clearly visible. For instance, my earlier paintings are usually large and contain a lot of structure. The Herculean thinking about the port and cranes is really in there, man puts nature to his will. The bigger the better. This was followed by the abstract, flatter works, bright colours. Now I am especially enchanted by light. In my current work, I am much more fascinated by harmony. Sunlight shines on the water and on a ship. The surroundings, I find that interesting now.

Your studio is based in Rotterdam, you have often painted the port. What is your connection with the city/port, and what does this mean for your work?

Being a Rotterdammer is so ingrained in me. The love and pride for the port and the water, but subconsciously I have also become a true Rotterdammer in terms of mentality. Putting my money where my mouth is, cleaning up after yourself and working hard. The best thing is that I often hear from people: 'I was in the port and I saw your paintings.' I love this city.

You are currently developing a new series on future landscapes and the interaction between wild nature and industrial influences. How do you envision this future landscape?

You see, the port is a great example of how people and technological development come together. But my deep interest is broader. A work of art can make people look at their surroundings differently. But also take into consideration the production process. Every piece in my painting is treated differently, either with different materials, dynamic brushstrokes or different paint thicknesses, as well as depths, 3D. I also recently created a series of landscapes in which human interventions are not so much literally visible in the work itself, but mainly in the process. Here I see a parallel with thinking about our future landscape. Looking for harmony and balance. Mankind in a natural and technological environment. And what is the challenge for humanity when it comes to this future landscape? What are your dreams? On the work front and in general. So I really see that my way of working and my subjects are related to this. First, the subject of art can really change the way you look at and experience your surroundings. Without being a propagandist, right? Fine art also lets the viewer fill in their own blanks. But a moment has now arrived to ask oneself: 'Which landscape will we feel at home in in the future?' ' What will we experience as a natural landscape?', and ‘Why?’ I live in the west of the Netherlands, so 'natural landscape' in my case would mean sitting on the sea bed. Just to name an example. Are technological interventions that bad or are they actually pleasant? After all, all those footpaths in the Netherlands were created by man, and we feel good there. That is of course also technology.

And how does your production process relate to a future landscape?

My work can be about the future landscape. Creating conditions in composition and process, letting chaos happen, being open-minded, keeping calm, taking back control, and surprising yourself with a result. A work of art that you could never have imagined beforehand. A fantastic trip, a rollercoaster. That seems like a nice scenario for our future thinking and mindset for the current times we live in. I'm already talking to a landscape architect.

INTERVIEW 'THE INTERIORATOR'

Grand and immersive. That’s how I’d describe the paintings of Sasja Hagens. I got to meet this successful artist in her studio in the north of Rotterdam. “I start painting for real the moment I realize: this looks like bullshit!”

So Sasja, you’ve been pretty successful these last few years. How did it all start out?
I’ve been working as an artist for about twenty years now. My first study was set design. The subject I enjoyed most was painting and so I switched studies as soon as I could. I graduated in Painting and Drawing at the Royal Academy of Art in The Hague.

What was the click with painting for you at the time?
To be honest, I was originally more interested in photography. When I was seventeen, I had a boyfriend who was a photographer. But when I saw him schlepping around big camera’s and heavy lights through all kinds of weather, I thought I’d go crazy if I had to do that myself all the time. I much preferred sitting in a warm and cosy studio, painting with the lights on. But all kidding aside, at the end I do have deeper emotions about painting of course.

What are those deeper emotions?
I have a good sense of color and I’ve always been lucky enough to be able to express that. The theme of my work changes throughout time, though. Especially after I had finished a big series of paintings about ports I wanted to do something different. I’d sold every single piece and thought to myself, I’d really like to make a good painting for a change. I always get that feeling when something is done.

Are you that self-critical?
Oh no! It’s rather that I always see new possibilities. Don’t get me wrong though.I can really enjoy looking at my own work, but not too long. Every work has been such a struggle, such a quest for a solution. There always comes a moment when I’m more or less done with it.

What are the problems you run into?
I always start with a plan. And the intention to make the best painting ever. That’s how I learned things. If you don’t have that mindset, then just don’t do it. I always start out painting exactly what I had in mind. But most of the time I get stuck at the moment when all my swell ideas turn out not to work. That’s when blind panic sets in. I feel abandoned by the hemisphere of my brain that makes up all my nice little plans. I start painting for real the moment I think to myself, this looks like bullshit!

So what makes you come up with a plan every time before you start painting?
I have to! You’re nowhere without a plan. Most of the time, however, something good happens in the end. But sometimes it doesn’t. And those are not my finest moments. Luckily, I’ve become a lot more self-confident. I don’t mind so much when I’m screwing up a painting. At least I give myself the space to try out something new. Staring at a blank canvas with big eyes has never helped me. It’s the actual painting that makes me happy.

What is it that makes you happy when you’re painting?
To me, it’s all about color. About rhythm. About seeing what it is, yet letting the abstract value of the painting dominate. It’s not about the picture, it’s about the dynamics of applying the paint. That generates meaning. People sometimes ask me why I’ve spent so much time painting ports – such an obvious theme. But their size and industrial quality light the fire in me. Artists can still be innovative within classical themes like ports and portraits, so as far as I’m concerned there’s plenty of space for me. I’m also fascinated by the huge size of the Dutch Delta Works and the Zeeland Bridge. Man is small and builds big things in an attempt to stop nature for a while. That gives me a romantic feeling.

Do you have tip for starting artists?
What has always helped me is that I come into my studio each and every day and think to myself, never forget why you went to art school! During my first year, I thought that I was going to make the coolest paintings in the world. And I think you should never let go of that thought.