Luca Fay van de Laar (2001) is a painter and performer who combines her artistic practice with natural horsemanship and the therapeutic qualities of horses. For her, it is essential to balance her painting practice with working with horses. The presence of horses acts as a mirror, which—just like a painting—reflects yourself. She compares the relationship with horses to the relationship with a painting. From the horses, she learns about clarity, the ability to be in the moment, intuition, and the perception of all the small details. She carries this attitude with her onto the studio floor.
She tries to understand the world by relating situations to events and observations between human and horse.

Van de Laar’s paintings are characterized by a dreamy melancholy, at times with playful humor. She plays with compositions that balance between heavy mental feelings and comfort. In her horses, both aspects are visible: the heavy and the light. The relationships between the subjects in her work remain ambiguous—even for herself. The composition is based on postures that resonate with each other in form or, on the contrary, collide.

It is not necessary to understand the paintings. What matters is the attempt to feel what is happening—just as when dealing with a horse. You will never fully know the other, certainly not in the language we speak, but you can feel, observe, and follow the flow of imaginations that arise in your thoughts.