leaned forward Print

The greatest theme in my work is the human being. It remains an endless challenge for me to depict a person in a few lines and patches. In each and every person it is the psyche, the mind which gives expression and character to every movement, to each gesture. I see the model and feel if the tip of the brush is caressing the model. I follow the contours as they touch me and feel how the brush goes up and down. I paint with my eyes focussed on the model. At the places where I perceive a strong contrast, I press harder. I work from heavy broad lines to thin lines by turning the brush. The ink is absorbed instantaneously. Nothing can be removed. It's like writing calligraphy. This is sumi-e, inkpainting. In sumi-e the spirit of Zen can be felt. The world is expressed in a language that is restricted as much as possible, to the most essential elements. Less is more. Sumi-e is the beauty which is achieved with a minimum of means, it is the amazement about the stroke of a brush, the nuances of a patch. Sumi-e is not working for the results, but painting because of the pleasure of painting. Most of it fail, But sometimes everything comes together and the lines start singing. Watching art has always been a great source of inspiration for me. Egon Schiele, Gustav Klimt, the German expressionists and of course Toulouse Lautrec have always been important examples. But strongest of all has been my taste for the East: Japanese and Chinese art. My thesis for my final examination (1976) was dedicated to Japanese woodcutting. Halfway the nineties I came in contact with the philosophy of Zen buddhism and Taoism. This became a way of life and opened new ways of painting.