If you've been drawn in, your curiosity has been piqued. You're taking a closer look. You're contemplating or meditating on what you're seeing in a thoughtful manner.
The work featured in this exhibit invites you to do just that. "Drawn In" features artwork by two local illustrators, Oana Befort and Karien Bredenkamp. These two artists have different approaches to their craft and striking visual differences in their artwork. We invite you to be drawn into their two perspectives.
Oana Befort
Oana (pronounced "Wanna") is a Romanian-born illustrator, graphic designer, wife, and mother of two currently living in Council Bluffs, IA. Her mixed-media illustrations are hand-drawn and reflect her unique visual approach and love for the natural world. Her work is rooted in the endless beauty of God’s creation, ephemera, and the timeless folklore motifs of her Romanian roots.
Oana is a graduate of the National University of Arts in Bucharest, Romania, where she earned a Master's Degree in Graphic Design and Visual Communication. Her artistic journey started as a little child experimenting with any art materials that she could get her hands on while having plenty of paper supplies thanks to her parents working in a paper factory. She grew up loving and being inspired by her dad’s stamp collection and books, watching her great-grandma wave beautiful tapestries, her mother embroider, and collecting greeting cards. She used to hand-paint and write greeting cards for her family and friends during the holiday seasons, and now she runs her own stationery business where greeting cards are her best sellers.
Her stationery line is built around the idea of thoughtful connection and communication with loved ones, near or far, and it is her creative outlet that reflects both her passion for illustration and design. Most of the original paintings in this exhibit are translated into her stationery collection.
Karien Bredenkamp
I was born in a little town called Louis Trichardt in the Limpopo province of South Africa. Our family of four emigrated to the United States in 2015, and we currently live in Omaha, Nebraska.
Our emotional and mental constitution has fascinated me for as long as I can remember. I am curious about identity, the subconscious, and the working of our intuition. The world we live in gravitates toward the superficial. It fears introspection and authenticity. Through my art, I hope to show that we can find some of our richest life experiences through personal reflection & questioning the unknown.
My art consists of small abstract and surreal pen illustrations. I choose to work only with black ink because of its clarity and simplicity. The absence of color allows the viewer to focus on the subject matter without distraction. I keep my illustrations small, with delicate linework & stippling. The smaller scale encourages a more intimate interaction with the art since it has to be experienced close up. Similarly, our inner world does not shout at us from across the room, but whispers in a barely detectable voice. Viewers connect with the content and symbolism in unique ways to help uncover and explore their innermost reactions and beliefs. No two people will experience my art in the same way.
When I generate ideas, I withhold all critique to create the art in a stream-of-consciousness manner. The juxtaposing of unrelated elements helps the viewer connect with their internal world in a playful, non-threatening way. Some recurring themes in my body of work include personal identity, transformation, human potential, spirituality, and mental health.