Coulisses, photos and collages for studies.

coulisses 1 collage of prints 2017

In 2017 I was invited to the fashion show of Ann Demeulemeester in Paris. The show took place in the wonderful Musée de l'Homme and I arrived early.

coulisses 2 collage of prints 2017

The photos from that event inspired the work 'coulisses' or how it feels to be waiting in the shadows, ready to step into the light. I made collages from the prints as a first study and to look into the deformations.

the muses, collage of prints 2017

All these women are beautiful, but their appearance wasn't my first concern. I liked how the light reflects on their skin and how the shadows shape their faces. There is a softness to them like the early hours of dawn.

coulisses 3 collage of prints 2017

These photographs also started the series 'the almost portrait' as they move away from the person and don't focus any more.

almost portrait, collage of prints 2017

Oyster shell with paint.

A long time ago artists used shells to hold their paint. In 2014 I made some of these colours from woodpaste and paint in an oyster shell.

In school we had a timeline above the green board, showing evolution from past over present to future. It seems to me we look at it wrong, presented like this we place ourself outside of this timeline. Instead, we should look at it from the centre of the line itself, like in a dot where past and future meet. This way we are at all times at once. That is how it really is, the chair wasn't built today, and you weren't born right now, we are past, present and future. We are the meeting point between dinosaurs and new species to come. These oyster shells in my atelier are the meeting point of past painters and future works.

Still life with Belgian andives: my first oil paintings in 1997.

In 1997 in the class of Marc Maet I started as a first year student at KASK. After an introduction Marc announced: you can start now. I had almost nothing: some cheap paint, cardboard and a still life that was also going to be dinner.  During the afternoon I made two little paintings, after I finished the first I just started all over again.

 

I have a theory about how the first paintings made by an artist already contain the later style, at that time I was looking at these paintings and wondered what my later style would be. I assumed something with enlarged scale, a three part composition, light reflections... and what I didn't know yet: repetition. 

Robbie Snelders 40x30cm oil on canvas 2018

I'm working on a series about Robbie Snelders, and the series starts with a very gentle portrait, only soft edges and warm colours. This little portrait is about holding on to who you love and care for.  Not from photos or a live sitting model, I painted these from memory and this is how I would like to remember him.

Robbie Snelders - lemon yellow 40x30cm oil on canvas 2018 

The very difficult part of painting, for me, is to be accurate and give a precise shape, line or colour. 

Robbie Snelders Naples yellow 40x30cm oil on canvas 2018