Untitled (Polyptych #001-004) is a key work in my development. Not only is this work of art my first polyptych, also it was part of a brand new series of works on glass. By painting on glass a whole new experience of my work was opened up. I had started investigating these possibilities in the summer of 2016 and perfected them early 2017. This polyptych reflects on the fundaments of abstraction, by creating shapes within the gradients. Normally we would accept something as truly abstract when it is entirely self referential, without any representational reference to the outside world. However, the blue gradients have forever evoked the endless sky. No matter how artificial the colours, there is something inherently natural about the gradient. Yet in this work of art the gradients are transformed into shapes that seemingly hover over the endless depths expressed by the gradients.
In4Art acquired the work for their collection, also for its digital appearance even though it is completely painted with oil paints: an artistic medium used since the 15th century. This paradoxical relationship between past and contemporary is something that I explore in later works as well, and is developing into a consistent part of my practice.
The artwork is part of the series Containing Depth:
This is where all elements intersect: paint, glass, the sculptural, depth and shape. Geometrical shapes are painted in front of others, hover on a transparent surface or are pointed out by the form of a sculpture. Each shape forms the boundaries of a gradient, containing the endless.
A small note on the colour blue: We learn to view blue by staring at the sky and peering into water. Yet both elements amass colour due to their mass. A little bit of air is transparent, yet a lot of air slowly changes into blue. The colour blue arises at the sky because we view the faraway through air laden with drops of water, leading to what is called aerial perspective. The classical example being a blue mountain lying in the distance. However, we can never grasp this blue mountain, we can never reach it. We cannot grasp blue as it is a form of light, yet we perceive it because of an accumulation of matter. In my view, blue is not a colour but a sensation bordering on the material and immaterial.
Especially darker blues and greens reach depth through the accumulation of paint. Oil paints can appear like glass or lacquer, containing pigments of chemicals or earth metals into a mass of oil. This led to my use of glass and perspex. Their transparency makes the materiality of the ‘canvas’ paramount as it resonates with the lacquer like appearance of oils.