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A large abstract painting featuring a series of overlapping rectangles in neon pink, green and blue. The shapes are set against a soft, blurred background of pale green, yellow and pink washes.

A host of exciting updates from the shape-obsessed Esther Tielemans

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Date
9 April 2013

Like a lonely Lancashire lass making eyes at an exotic-seeming American GI at a wartime tea dance, we’ve been casting admiring eyes at Esther Tielemans for more than a year now. The Amsterdam-based artist creates stunning sculptural works based around bright, shiny geometric shapes but since we first checked in with her she’s not only updated her site with more 3D treats, but increasingly shown off her newer interest in painting, albeit with a consistent DNA from her earlier work. Her gallery shows really need to be visited to be fully appreciated as both elements of her portfolio play off each other within the space for maximum effect. So about that dance Esther…

A large, house-shaped sculpture painted in soft, vertical gradients of pink, yellow and blue. Behind it, a grid of small, colourful prints covers a white gallery wall.
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Esther Tielemans: Symmetry of Supposed Contradictions

A grid of identical paintings featuring abstract, vertical brushstrokes in neon pink, orange, yellow and green. The colourful marks are set against a pale, neutral background.
Above

Esther Tielemans: Symmetry of Supposed Contradictions (detail)

A geometric sculpture consisting of overlapping shapes in red, ochre, and grey. A large peach-coloured circle sits in the centre, layered over a red square and a dark grey rectangle. On the floor, matching shapes in black and brown create a mirrored, fragmented reflection.
Above

Esther Tielemans: Mouvement perpetuel

An abstract painting divided into two sections. The left side features a block of teal that bleeds into a bright blue base, while the right side is filled with energetic, multi-coloured brushstrokes on a pale yellow background.
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Esther Tielemans: Organising the Disorderly

An abstract painting featuring overlapping geometric outlines in pink, green and blue on a pale, multi-coloured background. In front of it, a sculpture of orange and black geometric shapes sits on a white plinth.
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Esther Tielemans: Installation shot

A sculpture consisting of several large, rectangular panels in bold primary and pastel colours. The glossy slabs are arranged in an overlapping, geometric cluster across a white gallery floor.
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Esther Tielemans: The Performance

A sculpture consisting of several thick, rectangular slabs of coloured acrylic arranged in a geometric composition. The slabs are in shades of red, pink and grey, with some standing vertically and others lying flat on a white floor.
Above

Esther Tielemans: The Performance (detail)

A large, colourful geometric sculpture is mounted on a wall divided into black and white sections. The piece consists of overlapping angular panels in pink, orange, red, yellow and green.
Above

Esther Tielemans: The Performance 2

A series of large, colourful rectangular panels in red, black, green and yellow are arranged in a white gallery space. Some panels stand vertically while others lie flat on the floor, overlapping like a geometric sculpture. In the background, a large abstract painting with multi-coloured brushstrokes hangs on the wall.
Above

Esther Tielemans: Installation shot

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About the Author

Rob Alderson

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Rob Alderson is a freelance writer, editor and strategist. He was previously editor-in-chief of It’s Nice That and WePresent, and editor of Design Week. He publishes the newsletter Undo, which tries to make sense of how AI is changing design work, the design process and the design industry.

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