Nelleke Beltjens: Tussen/Between

Nelleke Beltjens’ elegant steel sculptures with distinct angles and smooth planes have their origins in Minimalism, with echoes of Robert Morris, Tony Smith, Joel Shapiro, and Richard Serra. Yet the size of these works — small by traditional Minimalist standards — suggests a confidence that doesn’t require a massive presence.

Beltjens’ new works hug the ground and each other more insistently than ever. Solid, singular pieces have fragmented into interlocking or disconnected parts. Cruciforms stretch across the floor, sometimes three feet in length, while other works are tiny, only a few inches in any dimension. Holes and slits, which in previous works evoked doorways and windows, have given way to the spaces defining the meeting of two forms. Remnants of architectural associations linger, but relationships have become prominent. The notion of completeness is emphasized through the interaction or intersection of two or more parts, even if separated by space. All energy culminates at the points of connection, or crackles in suspension in the spaces between.

Beltjens, born in The Netherlands, is completing her MFA at the University of California at Davis.