Anna Snijder

In the series Happiness is an inside job I & II, Anna Snijder explores the complexity of emotional states through an intricate layering of color spaces. Stylistically, these works show a clear affinity for Gerhard Richter’s squeegee technique. In a process of constant building up and scraping away, atmospheric landscapes of color emerge, where underlying layers are fragmentarily revealed through scratch and wipe marks. This technique lends the works an immense visual density and a temporal component: the creation of the painting remains permanently readable as a physical process.

While the cool blues and soft greens of the backgrounds radiate an almost meditative calm, the overlapping, impasto accents in vibrant orange and deep black provide powerful impulses. As with her other works, a final varnish provides a brilliant luster that emphasizes the depth of the color layers and preserves the luminosity of the pigments as if the work had only just been completed. This effect makes the colors appear permanently “fresh” and alive.

The interpretation of the title Happiness is an inside job points to the introspective depth of the series. It describes happiness not as an external event, but as an active, often laborious process of layering and uncovering from within. Just as Snijder applies, covers, and scratches back colors, the canvas reflects the “inner work” necessary to reach a core of contentment. The physical texture thus becomes a metaphor for the human psyche: true happiness lies beneath the surface and must be made visible through the conscious engagement with one’s own emotional layers – layer by layer.