The art of women – Meet Cape Town creative Marie-louise Koen

Her art is pure emotion created through seemingly wild, yet purposeful strokes of acrylics and oils showing the many shades of women – from bold and brave to timid and fragile.

Cape Town creative Marie-louise Koen recently opened her KZN debut exhibition titled I am You at the Ballito Lifestyle Centre’s Imbizo Gallery running until the end of July.

“Ballito is a very cool little hub, so it was an obvious next step for me to exhibit here and expose my work to a new crowd,” said the 27-year-old Koen.

Looking at her work, you would never say she was not a trained artist.

Also read: Shades of sea – Meet Ballito’s seascape artist

“Painting has always been my hobby, but I studied quantity surveying and landed an internship at an architect firm in New York. I knew I wanted to go into interior design, but when my boss in New York asked for my portfolio, all I had were my paintings. He saw I had an eye and allowed me to let my role develop into an interior designer.”

Overflowing with inspiration from the Big Apple and its creative characters, Koen came back to Cape Town in December 2016 and felt drawn to the paintbrush.

“I was always sporty and academic at school. I was never the artsy one. Living abroad and being around inspiring people helped me to reinvent who I am and I just had it in me to paint.”

She particularly loves exhibitions, because she enjoys watching people appreciate and connect with her art.

“I get a thrill when I see people enjoying and analysing my paintings while I am totally inconspicuous on the side,” said Koen, who has had three exhibitions in Cape Town.

While each of her paintings portray a different emotion, they all have one thing in common – they are all women.

“I always paint women. They are such a direct, emotional connection and expression for me. I want to spread the message of feminism in a positive way by showing the beauty and unity of women. My work is not heavy, but I hope it helps evoke women to express their thoughts and emotions.”

Koen planned to return to New York later this year to continue her interior design work and fuel up on more creativity.

“New York constantly pushes you to be and do better. I thrived in that environment because it made me realise that you can do whatever you want to if you put your head down and graft. There are no limitations to what you can do.”

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