It
is
said
of
Botticelli
that
he
would
regularly
fling
a
sponge
at
a
canvas
and
look
at
the
result;
often
this
was
the
start
of
a
landscape
painting.
Landscapes
are
also
a
key
theme
in
my
paintings,
in
which
chance
and
the
spontaneity
of
the
moment
play
an
important
part.
The
landscapes
are
not
identifiable
as
such,
but
depend
on
the
elements
that
define
a
landscape
–
for
instance
the
shape
of
the
land
and
the
man-made
or
natural
structures
most
frequently
found
within
it,
such
as
light,
water
and
earth.
I
also
make
use
of
landmarks
such
as
fences,
walls,
trees,
plants,
posts
or
buildings.
My
landscapes
mainly
consist
of
these
elements,
but
they
may
also
be
made
up
of
memories
or
fleeting
glimpses
from
cars,
trains,
books,
magazines,
television,
films,
journeys,
holidays
or
whatever.
Increasingly,
my
work
also
includes
images
from
my
immediate
dwelling
and
working
environment.
All
my
paintings
can
therefore
be
summed
up
as
‘LANDMARKS’
–
points
of
identification
in
my
own
life.
The
images
must
become
detached
from
their
everyday
existence.
Many
of
the
paintings
are
created
on
an
impulse,
sometimes
on
the
basis
of
a
drawing,
a
sketch,
a
small
watercolour
or
a
photograph.
My
canvases
are
often
pre-
treated
or
primed.
After
applying
various
colours
and
layers
of
paint,
I
distil
the
final
forms
–
painting
things
out
and
looking
at
what
is
left,
seeking
a
form
that
is
right.
The
end
results
are
purely
abstract.
The
elements
that
come
into
play
as
I
paint
are
originality,
spontaneity,
improvisation,
chance
and
risk.
The
paintings
thus
‘paint
themselves’,
as
it
were.
In
these
eight
paintings
the
focus
is
on
colour.
Apart
from
paint
I
have
used
various
other
materials
such
as
salt,
lead,
aerosols,
jute,
varnish,
gel,
etc.
The
paintings
could
therefore
be
described
as
‘matter
paintings’,
a
movement
to
which
such
famous
artists
as
Wols,
Tàpies,
De
Kooning
and
Picasso
have
all
contributed.
Freedom
to
experiment
with
various
materials
is
important
for
the
development
of
my
paintings,
but
is
not
an
aim
in
itself.
The
materials
I
use
must
clearly
be
supplementary.
This
increases
the
distance
between
the
actual
landscape
and
the
image
on
the
canvas,
and
the
result
is
an
autonomous
landscape
of
abstract
images
and
forms.
Rather
than
follow
a
preset
plan,
I
prefer
to
let
my
next
move
be
determined
by
whatever
forms,
colours
or
structures
happen
to
have
emerged.
Sometimes
all
this
results
in
new
forms
or
paintings.
The
viewer
can
interpret
my
paintings
for
himself.
This
is
one
reason
why
they
have
numbers
rather
than
titles
–
a
title
would
send
the
viewer’s
thoughts
in
a
particular
direction.
The
canvases’
appeal
lies
in
their
poetry
and
mysteriousness,
which
cannot
be
expressed
in
words.
I
hope
the
viewer
will
share
my
sense
of
traveling
through
a
dream
world
or
fantastic
landscape.
Everyone
is
free
to
respond
to
the
paintings
with
his
own
feelings,
images,
sensations
or
whatever,
for
the
poetry
of
landscape
can
be
found
anywhere,
by
anyone
who
seeks
it.
As
Georges
Braque
so
wisely
said,
‘in
art
there
is
only
one
thing
that matters – that which cannot be explained’.
Jeroen van Herten