Stalking ( Forest I ) 2010, oil on canvas 150 x 200 cm Painting

Suspence is ‘Leitmotiv’ in my work. Anticipation and anxiety, related to our existential-, political-, sexual-, and social fears, and the way this tension that can be generated by an image. I explore the power of representation in painting, and I question the potential of painting in a world that is engulfed by images. I am interested in the relationship between the collective and our personal history. I use images like photo’s, found footage, images from the media. Images that reflect reality. These images behold a universal aspect of memory. Every spectator can have their own perception. Each person can analyse and experience their own moment of recognition. I search for a form of representation, or a technique that is most closely related to what I am trying to express. Each painting has its own handwriting and demands its own approach. The properties and limitations of the material are literally part of my work’s content. I use the space in and around my paintings. This applies specially to the extra large “Wallpapers” with their monumental presence. And to the extra small “Souvenirs”, where tiny images form together a spacious installation. It is not just to define the painting’s external boundaries, but to involve the spectator in the work- to envelop them. The viewer, influenced by their own personal history, relates to the particular reality of the painting, a reality not connected to a specific moment or event, but one that is universal and timeless.