Astri Blokbergen

After an initial psychology study, the artistic side of Astri Blokbergen (21-01-1965, Echteld) gained increasingly more ground. As a full niece of one of the most renowned sculptresses of Scandinavia, Ambrosia Tønnesen, this might have been destiny. After all, an artist is born, not made!
As off 1997, Astri declared total commitment to sculpting. The self-educated Astri Blokbergen has since honed her skills at several reputable institutes and artists, including the ‘Gooische Acadamy’ in Laren led by sculptor Janco Berman as well as the Italian ‘Kyle Smith Artspace’ in Pietrasanta.
Meanwhile Astri developed herself into a versatile sculptress, both in choice of subjects and theme as in use of materials and techniques. She works in bronze and stone. As an artist, Astri is mainly inspired by classical assumptions such as the beauty of nature and the anatomy of both man and animal. Characteristic in Astri’s work is the strong emotional load combined with an apparent simplicity.

The series ‘Trees’

“The bronze trees of Astri Blokbergen arose out of a series fascinating dreams. These trees represent symbolism and vitality in my eyes. The shaping of these trees is, in my experience, a feeling of being one with nature. The vitality and solidity, which I tried to express, is mainly symbolised in the pronounced roots of the tree. On the contrary, the branchy crown shows a lot of fragility. It is this tension, between power and vulnerability, that I made my starting point. Because the right balance between the two is found valuable in my experience. Every tree is a new story.”
Astri Blokbergen

The Trees 
The trees are coming into leaf
like something almost being said;
The recent buds relax and spread,
Their greenness is a kind of grief
Is it that they are born again
And we grow old? No, they die too.
Their yearly trick of looking new
Is written down in rings of grain.
Yet still the unresting castles thresh
In fullgrown thickness every May.
Last year is dead, they seem to say,
Begin afresh, afresh, afresh.

Philip Larkin. 2 Juni 1967

Expositiions

Galerie Elisabeth den Bieman de Haas, Amsterdam
Galerie Kamps, Rolde
Galerie Waterland, Broek in Waterland
Galerie Janknegt fine arts, Laren
Kunstkring Naarden
Galerie het kunstbedrijf , Heemstede
Galerie of Art F.B. , Bad Bentheim, Duitsland
Theosofisch centrum St. Michael, Naarden
Marxman advocaten, Amersfoort
Merlet, Schoorl
Pan Amsterdam 2009
Galerie Studio 2000, Blaricum
Menno Kroon 2010, Cothen
Landgoed Hoenderdael 2010, Anna Palowna