Camille Holvoet

Deceptively sweet, Camille Holvoet’s (b. 1952) work tends to draw on remembrances of life’s anxieties and forbidden desires. Her luscious oil pastel drawings of cakes, pies, and pastries are an expression of her relentless introspection. Holvoet’s process is an endless discovery, in which—through the repetition of her sacred objects: dessert, Ferris Wheels, and crossed eyes—the pressures of the past are relieved by the joy of the creative process. She will definitely have her cake and eat it too. Fittingly, Recchiuti Confections, one of our community arts partners, chose her drawings of cakes to adorn their 2011 Artisan Series of gourmet chocolates, while CB2, another arts partner, chose her work as the basis for a large limited edition print.

When Holvoet combines text with imagery, the resonance between the two is powerful—as beautiful, vibrant renderings of cakes and pies are overwritten with recollections of nightmares, fears, frustrated sexual feelings, and religious doubt. Her texts stretch beyond the confines of language, and she often resorts to the invention of words to represent her (“outspiration,” “invisamble,” “youngry”).

She is a dedicated saleswoman, offering her work readily; and she may ask you to cross your eyes and you’ll have no choice, since 2001 she has been luring fans into the studio with her charm and magnetism, and above all, her honesty.