Eja Siepman van den Berg is laureate of the Wilhelmina Ring, edition 2017.
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Dutch sculptor Eja Siepman van den Berg (Eindhoven, 1943) developed her distinctive visual program during the early 1970s. Her representations of the (female) human body in bronze and stone witness her interest in a harmonious figuration ánd the principles of abstraction. Figurative Abstraction In its figurative appearance, Eja Siepman van den Berg's sculpture deals with questions of balance and proportion, of symmetrie, and the intrinsic quality of her materials. But categorizing her work as merely figurative, falls short of its qualities. It seems more appropriate to refer to her work as a well-considered and reasoned 'figurative abstraction'.
This also explains her broad interest: in early Greek Kouroi, the subdued male statuary from 600 B.C., ánd in twentieth-century sculptors as Consantin Brancusi and American Minimalist Donald Judd.
Beauty in Standstill Eja Siepman van den Berg seeks for a clarity in form, omitting the mere decorative and superfluos. What remains, is sculpture devoid of 'meaning' in the traditional sense of the word.
Her sculpture is free of anecdotes and personal histories, and cautiously refrains from the highly-individual. Instead, her torso's and head- and armless figures convey a universal an timeless beauty. Beauty in standstill. Eja Siepman van den Berg was educated at the Amsterdam Rijkscademie (1962-1967) and was awarded the prestigious Prix de Rome in 1967. In 1978, she was the first awardee of the Charlotte van Pallandt Prize, named after the eminent Dutch sculptress of the twentieth century, Charlotte van Pallandt.
Works by Eja Siepman van den Berg can be found in the Netherlands' major museums. Her projects for public space were realized in major Dutch cities, such as Amsterdam, Leiden, The Hague, and Leeuwarden, among others.
