Statement
Visual Alchemy
I think of myself as a visual alchemist. Like the alchemists of old, I strive to transmute basic elements into something beyond the ordinary.
My practice as a painter is a pursuit of the perfect balance between form and colour, harmony and intensity. Aiming to create images infused with presence and power that mirror the mystery of existence. An attempt to express my own wonder and joy at being alive in this grand universe.
You don’t need to know anything to understand my work. All you need is to take your time and fine tune your perceptual instruments. Open your senses and allow your sensitivity and intuition to reveal what the images transmit.
Process
I use my own intuition to a high degree. Often I’m not sure what I’m making, while I make it. Sometimes I find out later. This is part of what makes painting so fascinating to me. It’s a discovery, a journey into the unknown.
I’m very captivated by the tactile and sensual aspects of the painting process. The feel and the look of the raw canvas, the fluidity of the paint, the stroke of the brush and the intensity of color. It’s not always possible to control how the paint soaks into the canvas or how it dries up, but that’s part of the charm. Sometimes it’s the unforeseen elements that turn out to be the most compelling.
Vision
When it comes to forms I often work with the most basic elements of image making: the dot, the line, circles, triangles and squares. As in alchemy I strive to fuse these basic elements into something extraordinary.
I frequently make use of symbols, and forms that resemble symbols. Sometimes they refer to specific concepts and meanings, but you don’t necessarily have to know the meaning to grasp the message. I feel that the meaning is often inherent in the forms themselves and that you can sense their essence intuitively.
The power of geometric forms and symbols is that they tap into a non-verbal understanding, a higher vision of reality beyond the five senses. A vision that transcends the conceptual mind and where the interconnectedness of the entire creation is immediately evident. As a painter, sculptor and performance artist I try to point to this reality with my works.