Notes

Drawing inspiration from Oscar Forel’s Synchromies series, the artist experiences a primal connection to nature, evoking the ineffable cycles of life, death, and rebirth. Forel’s imagery becomes a portal to a world where nature’s quiet grandeur takes centre stage, with wood and rock serving as metaphors for life’s enduring rhythm. Their textures and tones speak a language older than humanity – one that acknowledges the transience of individual existence while celebrating the immortality of matter. Forel’s work captures the sensation of standing at the edge of the natural world: overwhelmed by its beauty, humbled by its permanence, and comforted by its embrace. These visuals resonate with Walt Whitman’s reflection in Song of Myself: “I bequeath myself to the dirt, to grow from the grass I love.” It is a surrender to something greater than the self, an acknowledgement that we are not separate from the world but intricately bound to its pulse. This idea of immortality is central to Vermaas’ work – not as a static state, but as a continuous cycle of transformation. Her materials echo life’s remains and rhythms, reminding us that legacy lies not in permanence but in the ongoing exchange of energy and matter. In Synchromies, nature is not merely a backdrop but the living, breathing protagonist of our shared story. In Vermaas’ art, the 'barbaric yawp' of existence resounds in every brushstroke and texture – a visceral testament to our enduring connection with the earth’s eternal rhythms.