Godelieve Smulders (1949) was trained as a sculptor at the Rietveld and Rijksacademie, she has developed into a valued and versatile artist. She makes sculptures, paintings, drawings and internet projects. Every year she lives a few months a year in Curaçao where she works on her sculptures and paintings. She is a committed artist. Injustice, all the joys and sorrows of society concern her, both in the Netherlands and in the Caribbean. Godelieve likes to work in series such as the ‘Giving Birth’ series; images of birth. “We are 7 billion people on this earth because we were born once and why is birth so little depicted in art?” says the artist. That is why I like to pay tribute to the great miracle of the birth and woman giving birth. She started out as a maker of figurative images and quickly developed in the 1990s into making large monumental works for public space. “Preferably six meters high, made of all kinds of natural materials. The exciting thing about the 3x human size lies in the fact that you are completely enveloped by the image, that you can experience the image from the inside.” A large number of temporary and permanent statues have been created, of which the ‘Barende woman’ can be seen in the Blue Bay Sculpture Garden. Her work can be seen in various museums and galleries in the Netherlands and abroad. As a teacher in the art domain, Godelieve Smulders guides many to find their way in the art world. She is also a board member of the Dutch Circle of Sculptors, which is committed to sculptors and sculpture in general.
