Fight Flight

This exhibition is set against the sobering backdrop of the devastating stories of women and children that take, as their subject matter, the grim reality of families living in constant fear. It draws upon Muijlwijk's work as both a therapist and artist, and references her experience in the fields of Human Geography, Town Planning and Social Sciences.

Produced in part, as a response to her Artist Residency on the Greek Island of Skopelos, the works reflect the marks of trauma washed on its shores and encapsulated in the ruins of abandoned buildings. Mundane objects becoming mean weapons or poignant reminders, buildings that are no longer houses, and houses that are no longer safe homes.

Although the works draw on events involving specific environments and its people, it is intended that the art work remains open to readings relevant to broader themes of relationships, identity and belonging, and that it may facilitate reflection on timeless relationships between people and place.

Working with images on paper is an important part of her non-artist career as a counsellor/therapist and because her main modality is Interactive Drawing Therapy (IDT) the page is used as a therapeutic tool: by drawing the issues on paper there is a potential for the clients to change their perceptions about themselves, their experiences and their world of possibilities.

Anneke has dual nationality (Dutch and New Zealand), and studied art at Melbourne's RMIT University, graduating with MFA with Distinction in 2010.

Fight Flight features Safety Plan with Dog (2017) - a finalist in 2017's Parkin Drawing Prize. She participated in artist-in-residencies in Portugal, Spain, USA (New York and Vermont) and Greece. She works as a counsellor/therapist and mediator in Northland.