In the presence of absence (8) Print

For me art is about the wonder as well as the challenging things that start happening when you start playing with the world around you. Creating something allows for reflection and the surfacing of things that were perhaps subconscious at the time I felt an attraction toward a certain idea. Charcoal has been a favorite medium for a long time, as it responds so immediately and lightly to the touch, yet it can leave pretty impactful marks as well. I also like playing with paint, clay and collage. As I am quite conditioned to be introspective about my own experience and to somewhat suppress my own perception around other people, I can really feel the need to withdraw for some time in the studio to feel the freedom to play. I imagine that what comes forward in my personal expressions, on some level can tap into what is at play in the larger culture as well. I think the urge to make something without direct practical use, expresses a basic longing to connect my existence to the 'otherness' around me. So with the wonder of making something, whether recognized or not, comes also the isolation of a self-aware existence. In my work I am looking for direct experiences, rather than conceptualizations of it. In the end, I’m not looking for an idealized substitute of reality in my work (though I think I can be quite romantic), but rather I would like to experience what it means to be alive with less and less obstructions. Theories, ideas, thoughts; they start the work, and then the making of it brings the opportunity to go beyond that. Biography I was born in 1982 in the Netherlands. I studied Fine Arts at the Willem the Kooning Academie in Rotterdam, and moved to North America right after graduating in search for wild and personal space. I currently mostly live in Northern California loving the trees and wildlife.