„For me, nothing can replace working directly from observation.
I love the immediacy of painting with one brush on several sheets of paper at the same time, which will then form one image. Shifting from panel to panel gives me the visual sense of stepping outside the frame.

Working on location in this way requires a certain speed and directness that corresponds to my nature. I view, make bold decisions, and stick with them.
The white of the paper is always the lightest tone; once this has been painted over, there is no retrieving it. The paint dries rapidly and the image emerges. The success of the process relies on the dynamic of the first marks made – they are in that sense sketches.

My major concern is how to paint the world around me. “

Jim Harris

A stuffed falcon quickly attracts attention. He wears a so-called Indian Hood, which keeps the bird calm and allows the falconer to work with the bird only at a certain moment. The hood carries the inscription De arte venandi cum avibus (Of the art to hunt with a bird).  This expression orginates from a textbook of falconry and ornithology which was written by Friedrich II. between 1241 and 1248 in latin and which was considered the benchmark work for a long time.

Miriam Vlaming’s main interest in this work focuses on the relationship between animal and human being. The art of falconry which goes back 3500 years is exemplary for the symbiotic relationship between human being and animal and for their mutual trust. This trust and cooperation can only develop during extensive training. But it is delicate and could be revoked anytime. With every free flight, the bird could potentially not come back to the falconer. By letting the bird go, the falconer can also realize his dream to fly himself and his desire of limitless freedom.

Other motives of this archaic way of hunting appear in Vlaming’s work, for example when an archer concentrates on an invisible target. Human beings hunt to survive.

Vlaming’s new work also contains small oval-sized paintings with baroque gold frames which gives them a strong intensity. Together with new large-sized paintings they seem like memories of certain states of mind, maybe developmental states or recurring stations during your lifetime? A sleeping girl, a dream as symbol of an original point or a boy who carries the falcon on his arm; a scene as if taken from a fairy tale in which both seem like allies. Human being and animal closely related. In the painting “Fastnacht”, however, children in disguise appear who keep the ritual of masquerade alive and part of art history. By using a disguise, the fear of the forces of the subconscious mind, spirits, and demons is banned.

Humans change their environment and surrounding nature. They cultivate it, use it to their purpose, and try to tame animals and natural forces. At the same time, they destroy nature’s sensitive equilibrium and therefore their own life.