2007 Catching Light
(Site et Cetera, Den Haag)
After the Art Academy in Den Bosch I studied at the Dutch Art Institute in Enschede. For my final presentation I had to produce a short thesis about my work and I chose to have a dialogue with Frans Cornelissen. He is a neurologist, researching visual perception at Groningen University.
I wanted to know why I am fascinated so much by shadow/light. On the basis of his expertise Cornelissen suggested this is related to my dyslexia. The way I draw is the way I perceive the world, as a sequence of clear details with fuzzy surrounding areas. I look from detail to detail and based on that I abstract and comprehend.
Since then I understand why I make the images I make. Not only why I want to simplify things, but also why I move from spot to spot. My earliest memories as a child are the dancing spots of light in the forest, the light dancing on a wall, the light playing on surfaces of objects.
In 2007 I had the opportunity to work in a big, empty building in The Hague. I see the light coming through the windows and falling on the floor, I see surfaces and shadows; I put down paper and once I start drawing I cannot stop drawing the light. I draw the light with the deepest black, with charcoal. My discovery there and then: I draw while shadows and lights are moving about – and also what I draw starts moving.
Lifting the drawing up from the floor, another surprise: the outside margins of my work left on the floor created a frame for lights and shadows to continue their play.