Declaración del artista

Encounters

I think of my work as an exploration of different types of encounters. Partly I take an interest in what can occur in a meeting. Partly I take an interest in how meetings can fail despite contact and communication. Additionally, I take an interest in how meetings can change the parties involved.

Collage of Contrasts and Connections

Firstly, I find paintings stimulating when they contain contrasts and juxtapositions. Especially when the whole presents something different from the parts.

Overall, the paintings usually consist of several layers of collage-like parts. Mostly with a combination of different techniques and different types of images. Along with physical and abstract shapes, landscapes, places, and people.

Mainly I want to create a mental quagmire. Similarly, I look at how disparate paintings together can create something new. And each of my paintings is a unique project with its own challenges and creative problems.

A Third Place

Secondly, I am curious about what happens in a meeting between people. On the one hand, I take an interest in the common images that can arise. And how language, like the public sphere, has both a divisive and unifying function. For language cannot communicate an exact copy of a mental image. Nor can we understand situations beyond our horizon.

To convey the tension of a meeting, or the absence of a meeting, I paint the third place. That is, a place of confrontation between different points of view and where boundaries between definitions blur.

Pseudo-Psychoanalysis

Thirdly, I take an interest in how the individual and the collective create each other.

Among other things, I explore which images take place in the collective consciousness. I also wonder how the collective images affect my own perceptions.

After all, my paintings are attempts to depict my own mental images. Similar to wanting to concretise unformulated thoughts about the appearance of reality. Such as abstract comparisons between my personal experiences and global trends. Similarly, I look for connections between psychological tensions and political conflicts. For this reason, I paint my visions double exposed on top of common images. All in all, this is a thought process that I see as a pseudo-psychoanalysis of society in relation to myself.

The goal is for my paintings to contribute to a dialogue about personal and shared images, about painting and about the contemporary world. But I want my paintings to convey their own concepts without dictating an interpretation. Overall, I try to balance the autonomy of modernism with the conceptual heritage of postmodernism. In other words, I want to create independent paintings that free the mind and relate to the present.

The Absurdity of Life

Another part of this interest is how human life relates to life, death, the surroundings and society. For example, it frustrates me to not be able to see any objective true reality. At the same time, I embrace the absurd. And I paint the paradox of the transience of life in relation to social norms. In fact, the absurd arises as part of all the artificial constructions of social life. But these constructions are historical and changeable. Therefore, I am looking for ways to paint multi-faceted alternatives to the accepted ones that can show the absurdity of life.

Finally, I take an interest in how individuals’ emotions and society can shape each other. In particular, I take an interest in how people’s fears can create political change. Above all, I believe that fear of the new, fear of loss of status and fear of the unknown influence how people vote. My own fears are also part of my motivations. Specifically, I worry about the world’s lack of empathy, environmental degradation, and the weakening of democratic structures. As a result, I paint dystopian scenes.

A Platform for Exploration

I see my paintings as surfaces, objects, traces of colour, an activity, a concept, and representation. Above all, however, they are a platform for exploration and experimentation. In addition, I strive to create something new with painting.

From Sketches to Discovery

When I start a painting, the work begins with sketches. Either on paper or digitally. Then I construct and plan each layer in Photoshop. Rules and planning allow me to experiment more and go further in the creative process. Likewise, I plan in such a way that unexpected events emerge during the painting process.

While painting, my interaction with the texture of the painting is significant. In relation to the presence of the painting as an object, I play with its surface for representation. While painting, I am open to surprises. In addition, the painting process tends to change my intentions. Finally, painting often becomes a discovery.