A powerful 1993 oil painting by Birgitta Vereecke, created during an intensive art project in Berlin. The West is part of a series of four works based on the cardinal directions of the medicine wheel: East, South, West, and North.

Why this artwork stands out

• Part of a four-panel series centered on the four cardinal directions.
• Inspired by Navajo sand paintings and rituals, which Birgitta discovered during her stay in Berlin.
• Powerful symbolic visual language featuring circles, geometric forms, and cosmic references.
• Painted in Berlin in 1993, during a month of intensive work in an artists' studio.
• Created by LGBTQ+ artist Birgitta Vereecke, who trained at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy.

The West

In 1993, Birgitta Vereecke worked in an artists' studio on Lindower Strasse in Berlin. There, she came across an art book about the sandpaintings of the Navajo Shooting Chant. The rituals and circular compositions provided the starting point for a series of four large paintings.

Each work took one of the four cardinal directions as its starting point. Within the project, circles moving inward and outward refer to the earth, the Milky Way, and the universe.

The West is rendered in intense shades of orange and red. A central animal figure, geometric forms, and various circular motifs give the painting a distinctly symbolic character.

The four works were created during one month of intensive work in the Berlin factory space. The painting The East from the same series later won third prize at Museum Haus Beda in Bitburg, Germany.

Product information

Artist: Birgitta Vereecke
Title: The West
Series: East-South-West-North
Year: 1993
Technique: oil painting
Created in: Berlin
Theme: cardinal directions, circles, earth, cosmos, and rituals

Exact dimensions and price were not provided.

About Birgitta Vereecke

Birgitta Vereecke is an LGBTQ+ artist. Her work moves between realism and impressionism, while also encompassing projects in which symbolism, travel, Indigenous cultures, and rituals play an important role.

She studied art at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy / Art Academy in 1986.

Discover The West and the symbolic world behind Birgitta Vereecke's four cardinal directions.