The artistic practice of Eva De Leener (°1978, Gent) consists mostly of drawings, paintings and sculptures, but also includes poetry and prose. Her artistic practice is typified by the way she appropriates elements from, among others, religious forms of expression, myths, or cultural practices, which she appears to combine freely, and subsequently relate to aspects of her own life.   

            At first sight, De Leener’s visual idiom appears to be univocal. Her use of universally recognizable symbols or stories implies that the meaning of her work can be gleaned from an understanding of the underlying messages these symbols or stories convey. But there is also a layered narrative structure that upends and exploits the so-called general validity of certain archetypes. De Leener deploys the multiplicity of meaning some symbols have, in order to veil the content of her work and encourage a more ambiguous reading. 

            In their specific, ideological context, most of the image elements De Leener uses do have an established significance and a well-defined message. But the motifs that often return in her work, such as the snake eye, are so widespread in cultures all over the world, that their significance is variable. For example, the snake in Christian iconography represents evil, because, according to this tradition, Satan, in the guise of a snake, brought on the Fall by seducing Eve to eat the forbidden fruit. In other cultures, the snake can stand for fertility, rebirth or immortality. ... Read more

(text Jeroen Staes)