2009-2010 Preserved Places
(Dunes Festival, Schoorl)
In 2009 till 2011 a pyromaniac was active in the area around Bergen and Schoorl where I lived and I wanted to make as much drawings of the places there which I loved and also other places which mean a lot to me. The title Preserved Places is reminiscent of that period that was so consequential for me and other residents.
My first drawings of landscapes were representations. However, i did not want to imitate, to represent. I can draw very quickly and I strived to draw like I look: images in rapid succession. So, I then put the paper on the ground and started to register lights and shadows.
I cannot walk through a landscape without emotions. I also wanted to document the memories of my childhood, my sensitivity for lights and shadows. Those experiences I cherish and like to share. Preserve, protect and pass on. The memory of the lights playing in the forest before it burned.
When in the forest, I am completely there, one on one.
Drawing I work so quickly that there is not time to feel or think something. Composition is not on my mind. Only when I step out of it I see what I did.