Thijs Roest

Who isn't amazed and full of wonder, when seeing the endless flow of shapes and colors in the world around us? What are these forms, how do they come and go and who is this human form that's perceiving all of this?

Having lived as an ordained monk in a Zen Buddhist monastery has greatly influenced my world-view, which is rooted in the idea of oneness but simultaneously in the multitude of ever-changing forms.

Now living in a small, old farmhouse on the northern coast of The Netherlands, I try to explore these themes through watercolor painting, a medium well suited to express the fluidity and impermanence of life.

Where the traditional “Zen-art” usually expresses oneness and simplicity, I try to express the other side of reality. This being the endlessly changing forms and colors, appearing seemingly independent but still interconnected.

The paintings are therefore expressing a world filled with an array of vibrant colors and organic forms, often human- , animal- and plantlike, which creates a mysterious atmosphere in which the viewer is encouraged to find his own meaning and interpretation.

I was born in 1965 in Rotterdam (Netherlands),studied biology at Wageningen University, and am a self-taught artist.