Monique Leliefeld (1947) is a painter of emotion. She works and reworks her paintings until an essence of emotion is distilled into her forms. Standing in front of her work immediately twangs a feeling in the viewer. Her joie de vivre series evokes an immediate sense of happiness. The emotion in Mysterious Power is not raw or wild but subdued strength. Her technique masterfully works in texture and different stratification in all her work. Lovely to behold an envelope a room.
Monique's technique can best be described as abstract but painted with a figurative fine-art painter's precision. She started as mainly a figurative painter. Taking inspiration from her Dutch heritage and Dutch Masters. Her painting style has progressed over the years, from figurative to her current abstract paintings. Her Impressions of Tuscany painting is an example of her figurative mastery, whilst Sun and Beach is a combination of her abstract style and figurative style. Many critics believe that to master abstract art, one must first master figurative art. One can not just paint abstract as an artist; one has to slide into it all together with being aware of the process's technical formality.
Monique's oeuvre has taken this formal process of transitioning from painstakingly precise figurative art to painstakingly detailed abstract art. She works and reworks artworks and sometimes makes use of mixed media items to strengthen abstract pieces. She is continually thinking about the use of colour, texture and composition to distil emotions onto canvas. Her style is clean and precise, even abstract or seemingly looser works.
