Siiri Spronken: The Subtle and Hidden Form in the Incessant Abode of Emptiness. On exhibition for the first time in Milan at the Cadogan Gallery.

By MANUELA ANNAMARIA ACCINNO October 20th, 2025

The works of Dutch artist Siiri Spronken conceal an underlying, invisible form that does not impose itself with its immediate evidence, but reveals itself as a common thread of meaning and existential tension. This latent presence invites us to question the very nature of form and emptiness in relation to the complexity of contemporary society, the fragility of the individual and the incessant flow of time. Spronken's art moves along a fine line between presence and absence, between the visible trace and the fundamental one that remains desperately hidden at the perceptual level. Through suspended surfaces and forms, it expresses a principle that we could define as “underlying form”: an element that, while appearing empty, possesses an integral presence, an intermittent energy that sustains the entire composition. This dynamic refers to Robert Musil's notion of Gestaltlosigkeit, which describes the condition in which human beings, constantly filled with content and images, are confronted with a void that is not privative but generative of meaning. 

Siiri Spronken, In the Evening, 2025, oil on canvas, 120cm x 80cm (47" x 31")

“While I paint, I often approach the surface of the painting sculpturally whereby light and colour coincide with the form as if naturally, as if you were outdoors in the sunlight, that chromatic transmission between two colours. The light constantly changes, which not only affects the colours but also the form of things. That movement, I like to see it in the work, especially in this series of “Corpus”.

Siiri Spronken, Corpus X, 2025, oil on canvas, 120cm x 80cm (47" x 31")

Her works show how this hidden form is designed to reveal the relationship between apparent order and latent chaos, between shared presence and the fear of definitive absence. Although almost imperceptible, the form acts as a point of balance between the visible and invisible content, between the present and the past, between becoming and feeling temporarily permanent. This tension crucially represents the vulnerability of human beings in the face of the inexorable passage of time, but also their own profound uncertainty.

Siiri Spronken, Peach and Lemon, 2018, oil on canvas, 140cm x 100cm (55" x 39")

“A work must have something to say, even if it is about “nothing”. You intuitively sense whether a work does or doesn’t, and if so, if it has power, the work will tell you when to leave alone”

Siiri Spronken, Corpus III, 2025, oil on canvas, 120cm x 90cm (47" x 35")

Siiri Spronken encourages us to look beyond appearances, to recognize the subtle presence of a form that does not manifest itself in its obvious features, but silently governs the surfaces and materials of the work. She reminds us that in the complexity of contemporary society and the fragility of human existence, meaning is never a fixed given, but rather a delicate balance between emptiness and form, between the past and the present, between the passing of time and the present that is consumed, allowing the intimate perfect imperfection of who we are to emerge.

SiiriSpronken, Corpus I, 2025, oil on canvas, 125,5cm x 90cm (49" x 35")