“In her recent works Joyce Overheul reveals social structures and interaction behind that what sounds familiar. In January 2019 she travelled to Tehran, Iran and visited the protest sites where women protested the mandatory hijab enforced by the government. […] Pictures of their surroundings have been transferred to fabric works made from organza and velvet, making the faces of the protesters anonymous and making the spreading of people in public space more defined.

Using soft materials, Overheul transforms the sometimes-harsh reality. This is also the case with the works from the Soft Series, scale 1:1 replicas of iconic weaponry: the Kalashnikov, handgun and brass knuckles. Despite the fact that these weapons are highly recognisable, they don’t resemble their originals anymore at all.

Joyce Overheul works with political sensitivities from the cultural undercurrents. Behaviour and manipulation are reoccurring themes in her work.” – Anna Elisabeth Kruyswijk, Galerie Lauwer, 2019