about the artist
Artist statement
07
May
May
When I create a series of work I ask myself often the following question: “What would the art world, two centuries ago, have thought about this particular series?” Whenever the answer to that question is “They would surely love it.” I know I’m doing something wrong, that it’s not progressive enough and not 22nd century oriented. It is my method to get rid of the ballast. In order to get forward we need to get rid of the ballast that holds us back, things that were very useful in the past but that are now out-dated, not ‘beautiful’ anymore, … is ballast that we need to let go.
It’s the good old destruction-construction model, destroying parts of the past in order to build the future out of these ‘old’ building blocks. For a few of my series around realism I leave the traditional realism behind and present the reality of realism. One of the most important attitudes that helped me developing a reality of realism and becoming what I am is the simple act of going left when everybody else is going right. It’s the only way to discover the new and push the boundaries forward. Just like life, this creative process is a balancing act, what do we keep of our past and what do we let go.
Watercolour is the medium of the future for painting! I strongly believe this. It’s simply the medium that can blend in most easily with all other fields of humanity. (science, economy, etc.).
Oh yes, before I forget. I should also implement some of the traditional stuff in a statement with terms like: self-motivation, autodidact, ambition, etc. and perhaps a philosophy difficult enough so you don’t have the guts to say I’m wrong and strange enough so it appears to be interesting. All of that just to show you that I’m serious with my art. Well let’s just put it like this: I’m very serious!
artist statements are …
