BESSIE PROOS

Born 2003

"When I draw, I try to challenge my own vision. The flat paper opens up a space that allows me to navigate my way around and see things that I didn't know existed. Individual lines which start out flat on the paper, but which – together in the jumble of lines (if you're lucky) – manage to describe something I haven't seen. Angles, open shapes and the trembling of the hand all describe that which lacks a language. For me, the magic appears as I move between the dimensions. A kind of proposal for something else, an as yet unforeseen opportunity. The point of the crayon makes notes and strokes, and describes shape and movement. The broad edge creates shadows and atmosphere, breaking the surface, while descriptive lines alter the meaning of the shape. Sometimes I manage to put myself to one side during the process, and that's often when I feel like I'm onto something; when the drawing looks back at me, and I wonder who drew that."

Metal at Nyckelviksskolan, 2024

Stina Eldsten Den Tänkande Handen teckning utställning

BESSIE PROOS

Bessie Proo participates in the scholarship competition and exhibition with five drawings created 2022–2024.

Oil pastel on paper. Watercolour pencils.

1. Head
2. Family
3. Granny Ruth
4. Encounter
5. Aspudden


Click on the artworks in the slideshow to see full images, or scroll down. It can take a little while for the images to upload. Enlarge the drawings by choosing zoom or full page via the tool box by each image.

THE SELECTION COMMITTEE'S MOTIVATION:
Bessie Proos switches her drawing medium frequently, but there's nothing indecisive about her choices. On the contrary, each image moves within a rigid spectrum of alternately tone on tone, and alternately contrast. Cold and hot. Recurring themes are the physical, the sculptural, or maybe they're plaster figures? The colourful dance of the light across the surface isn't the only thing that's hard to control. The drawings explore the random, the uncontrolled, the trembling and the idea. The hand is in dialogue with the paper, and the paper replies.

Head
Oil pastel on paper, 2022. Original size 30 x 20 cm.
Family
Watercolour pencils, 2024. Original size 35 x 25 cm.
Granny Ruth
Oil pastel on paper, 2024. Original size 26 x 30 cm.
Encounter
Encounter
Aspudden
Oil pastel on paper, 2023. Original size 34 x 25 cm.