Biography

Cléa Van der Grijn is an acclaimed international award-winning filmmaker and visual artist. Van der Grijn's paintings signify a process-orientated philosophy engaging the viewer with the concept of deconstruction. Demonstrating uncoordinated compositions deliberately revealing traces of use, whereby the nature of their materiality is brought to the foreground. Core concerns would be the shifts in perception due to trauma and loss and the potential spaces this opens up for new imaginings and the unravelling of memory. Cléa's film work is about creating a space between now + then. Exploring the dynamism of emptiness in a realm where time + space are altered. Past, present and future are considered in the gaps in between, blurring the boundaries between fact + fiction. Expressing emotions, ideas + concepts through literal + abstract imagery through the creative use of editing + sound design. Characters emphasise the fragile + emotional states of mankind, with prominence on dreamscapes + mindscapes. A oneiric land, cinematically beautiful + psychologically disturbing. A world that explores significant topics such as death, loss, love, isolation + mental fragility. Cléa's work ignores conventional narrative. The rationale becoming absurd. The lines of fact and fiction blurred. However, always at the core is the psychological unravelling of the human complexities and what it is to be human.