philosophy

art for me is about inspiration, wonder, spirituality, deeper layers. 

most art for me falls short in this respect (often i can still appreciate the work for other reasons). the art works that remain are very special to me. because it seems the artist was led by an inspiration almost beyond him/herself.

storm sea

 2005 ~ 21 x 30 cm ~ mixed media on paper

in my work i'm looking -with varying result anyway since this is not quite all that easy- for the essential, the real, that which remains when you remove the concealing surface. the corniness and the clean-polishing that many people try to paste over reality, gives me allergic reaction. 

flowers are beautiful, seems to be our collective opinion. but flowers are the sex organs of plants, and the sex organs of animals and humans are suddenly taboo... (see the commotion around robert mapplethorpe). at the same time many people consider a `beautiful' female body -albeit with head, arms and legs cut off!- to be art. this exceeds my understanding.

our western esthetics (based on classical greek ideals) provoke in me revulsion and anger. the fascination with the outside seems to be central to our whole culture. contrary to this i am most often touched by african and romanic/gothic sculpture, and by playful, enwondering, devotional/spiritual or childlike images.

also i am touched by what i call `honest' realism, meaning a representation of a part of reality, with all experiental aspects, emotional and spiritual layers attached. with van gogh i experience these layers, while a photograph remains a flat piece of paper (which can be of interest nonetheless). what makes rembrandt's `the jewish bride' so special to me are the mutual feelings of the portrayed, which to my eyes have been painted along.

rembrandt, the jewish bride

unexpected materials, unexpectedly applied, help me to reach deeper layers. during the work i let most things simply happen, as long as i feel a `deeper' stream. thus in several runs, mostly taking months and regularly years, a work originates.

in the end i feel that we humans are too limited to really understand even the smallest part of reality. one could call this the postmodern uncertainty principle. this postmodernity is strongly present in my work. but i reach back to more `primitive' traditions like the african and the medieval, to stay close to the inspiration which being an artist i hold so dear.

notre dame des anges

2005 ~ 21 x 30 cm ~ felt tip, pencil, photoshop on paper

if you read this far, it is likely you will also be interested in my artist's weblog