Irene Hoff Interview

Irene’s art is filled with hope and inspiration that encourages viewers to become aware of their feelings and beliefs, making space for their true self.   Living in Asia for more than 20 years, explains some of Irene’s unique insights into our world.  She speaks the language of the West whilst simultaneously sensing the subtle unspoken energies of the East. Irene currently creates and lives with her two daughters on the beautiful ‘Island of Gods’, Bali, Indonesia.   Unique to Irene’s art is the mixing and matching of different styles, which at first glance may seem controversial. In her paintings, she loves to modify the acrylic paint into thicker applications, and to use a wide variety of hand torn paper patterns and old street posters. The subtle details and harmonious color combinations make her art nothing short of enticing to the viewer.   Amongst her achievements, Irene is proud to have had one of her wildlife paintings signed by nature warrior and actor Leonardo DiCaprio. She consequently donated the signed canvas to a project raising funds to protect Asia’s Wildlife (2016). More recently, she was published in ‘100 Artists of the Future’, A Collector’s Edition curated by The Contemporary Art Curator Magazine (2019

Interview with artist Irene Hoff

FG: If you should tell someone the story of your life, from where would you start?

Irene Hoff: Looking back, I would start with a challenging childhood. You can see it as a negative thing or you can look at it as something that made me who I am today. It led me to a beautiful journey where I challenged myself to look in the mirror and to not step away from difficult things. Life is about (re)discovering who you really are and in order to do that you have to live your life and to follow your heart and your intuition, oppose to following what people tell you or expect you to do. It brought me eventually to Indonesia and it triggered the desire inside of me to become a painter despite others telling be to choose a ‘sensible’ job.

FG: How would you describe your art today?  

Irene Hoff: My art is visual way of expression, but also a means of transferring ‘energy’ and insights to the person attracted to my work. I belief my art holds the potential of stirring positive thoughts. My latest series is called Inner Totem, in which I portray women with colorful headpieces, combined with flowers, animals or symbols. This series came through my desire to reconnect and bring people closer to their core nature. I aim to encouraging and move women in reclaiming their power, overcoming their limiting beliefs and discovering their talents, so they can move towards their unique purpose in life.

FG: Can you mention an artist, artwork or series of art projects that particularly influenced/inspired you in you work as an artist?

Irene Hoff: I love the work of Louis Boudreault, he portraits famous people using images from their childhood. I love the style and the simplicity of his artwork. Another artist I adore is Spanish artists Lita Cabellut, she works on large-scale canvasses creating portraits of street dwellers, prostitutes, religious people, historical figures, fictional characters and influential people.  

FG: What is, in you opinion, the purpose of art nowadays?

Irene Hoff: What I like about art is that is it multiple interpretable. What people see depends on where they are in life. Everybody has different beliefs and views on life, collored by what we have been told. Art can help you to clarify feelings and can give you insights that you might never be able to process through words. You see what you are ready to see, an interesting concept.  

FG: Do you have a favorite quote or motto you often think about?

Irene Hoff: Everything you can imagine and FEEL is real. We are able to create our own lives, by visualizing and feeling that what we want to attract. Next to that I try to not take life too seriously, to be grateful for the things I (will) have, to maintain balance as much as I can and to have a big laugh every day!      

FG: Do you have a dream yet to come true? If so, which one?

Irene Hoff: I visualize a lot but not in too many details as I love the details to be a surprise brought to me by life. However, I dream/visualize/feel to be traveling more when the kids are older, to be able to inspire and empower woman with art, words and energy. My art is already sold worldwide, but of course there is always the wish to become bigger and to do art projects with interior designers for beautiful spaces!  

FG: What are your future projects? What are you working on at the moment?

Irene Hoff: I am preparing art for my gallery in London, about to send them 5-7 more pieces as the rest was already sold. I just started to work with a gallery in Canada and I am very excited about doing an art exhibition there in 2020. Next to that I am trying to dive deeper into the Inner Totem and aim to do more commissions for people to make their ‘Personal Inner Totem’ painting.      

Courtesy pics: Irene Hoff

www.irenehoff.com 
Instagram: Irene Hoff