INTERVIEW with

An one of the few sunny days in April,
we payed a visit to home and studio of the famous Dutch artist Phil Bloom.

Lunch time! Miaow!! / Wright way of eating cheese!

After visiting her house,
where she made us a nice lunch with white-bread and strawberries,

nice book

Phil took us for a 15-minute-walk to her studio,
where we had this interview.

Welcome to my studio

Since her childhood, Phil wanted to paint.
She started as a painter after her studies at the Royal Academy
for Visual Arts in 1963 in The Hague, The Netherlands.

In 1967, she became world famous by appearing nude
on the Dutch television program "Hoepla".
After that, she was seen nude in
several other performances broadcasted by national television.
From then on, her struggle began.

For a short time,
Phil stopped painting after the hausse her nude appearance caused;
she felt like a misunderstood foreigner."
I wasn't aware of the incredible publicity around my nudity;
I really hated that. It wasn't my goal to be portrayed as a sex object.
I was a performer who wanted to agitate. Nobody understood this".
Finally, she decided to ran away from it all
and bought herself a ticket to New York.

Her studies at the Pratt Institute and other art schools
as well as travel in the United States, India and Europe,
which she refers to as "The triangle",
a goal, and for the first time in her life,
instead of going with the flow, she made her choice:
from now on, her paintings should have profundity.

Basically, her subjects are mixtures of the cultures she visited and their
historical and modern themes.
In her painting, Phil has created in Phil combined culture,
sex and the relativity of these themes with Such characters as Mickey Mouse.
"In doing this, I have chosen a very difficult way of making art",
Phil says.

Alice in Wonderland appears in her paintings.
The character of Alice in Wonderland is Phil's interpretation of the sexual,
drug related revolution in Europe.
Other subjects Phil uses are pigs:"Pigs and humans are very much alike,
where their intelligence and hearts are concerned".

The technique Phil uses is known as "alla-prima".
Alla-prima is a very old technique
that has its bases in 18th century, Italy.
This technique consists of painting on wet canvas,
going from the dark, shady parts to the lighter ones without outlines.
All parts are painted and worked out in one session.

For two years now, Phil's main theme has been war.
"Because of the media, war is coming closer to the people", she explains.
"Until now men started wars, thinking in terms of destruction.
As a woman, I ask myself, if it's likely for women to start war and if so,
how such a war would to develop.
With my war paintings, I want everybody to think about this".

Interviewer : Kaoru & Bambi Yamamoto, Maya Dommisse