detail of 'Tribute to Life'

collage printed on photo paper glued on the wall

25x 2.6 m

The Antoni van Leeuwenhoek Hospital is closely interwoven with Barbara’s personal history: her mother stayed in the hospital several times and eventually drew her last breath there.

The wall-filling work ‘Tribute to life’ is a celebration of the beauty of human existence in all its complexity. The work zooms in and out, as it were, on the smallest and largest elements of our earthly existence. Microscopic shots of healthy and sick body cells are interwoven with images of crowds of people and satellite pictures of the earth.The various images are combined into an organic and repetitive composition. The work consists of approximately 1000 images that Broekman collected from books, magazines, encyclopedias and the Internet.Next, these were cut out by hand, sorted according to color and arranged in patterns.

Getting closer to the colorful and dynamic image, small portraits can be detected. These are persons - dear to the artist - who have been affected by cancer. Photos of her mother, taken directly after Barbara’s and her twin sister’s birth, are the basis of the composition. The outlines of her face are a recurrent feature in this work.

With this almost hallucinatory work Broekman appeals to universal emotions. Broekman: ‘We are so insignificant in this universe, but so rich to be part of it for a moment. On the moments we stand face to face with our own mortality, we experience life to the fullest. At these moments, the senses are stimulated more directly and emotions of happiness and sorrow can become very close.’

The work can be experienced on various levels. From a distance one sees an abstract composition to which color, movement and form are central. Looking closer, the eye is pulled from one image to the next and one can experience the joy of looking at pictures.

In a poignant way, the work brings together research and loving care.

'cells'

hand embroidered

chain stitch

mercerized cotton

465 x 179 cm