Art Teacher Pays Homage to Vermeer in National Television

Lower School Art Teacher Cristina Lazaro was chosen amongst hundreds of artists to participate in a TV show and pay homage to Dutch 17th century painter Johannes Vermeer. 

This month, almost all of Johannes Vermeer’s paintings (known for The Milkmaid and Girl with a Pearl Earring) travel from all over the world to come to the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam for a major exhibition. The curious thing is that, over time, six of his paintings have disappeared. The Dutch broadcast channel NL1 produced a show called “The Nieuwe Vermeer” (The New Vermeer), in which visual artists from all corners of the Netherlands are commissioned to recreate one of the six missing paintings in their own style and interpretation. 

“I am really happy with this project. After the pandemic, my focus was completely towards my students and classes, so this was an awakening for my artistic identity. I don’t always appreciate what is behind the art, and with this research, I felt that I really understood the motivation, process and message” says Cristina. 

From hundreds of contestants, Cristina was one of the chosen artists and her project was to recreate “Het Concert” (The Concert). Cristina shares: “I knew from the beginning that I wanted to use recycled materials in my interpretation of the work. I’ve been working with sustainable materials for over fifteen years. During the recording of the episode I participated in, we visited one of the factories I work with. For this artwork, I used recycled glass, plastic, wood, paper, metal and resins, and it used it in a different way than what I normally go for.”

When reflecting on the connection between her work at ISA and her artistic DNA, Cristina shared that she “…realised that the process my students go through with focusing on a technique, curating a message, document the process, making mistakes, being resilient… I went through the same and challenged myself, and did my best. It was fun to see the connection between my students’ and my own process. That, in itself, was transformational for me.”

The episode featuring Cristina and “Het Concert” will go live on 5 March 2023.

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