I challenge myself to experiment with different techniques and materials.
How do I start a work?
‘It starts with an assignment I give myself. I’ll get the stuff ready and then I’ll start working. Often, I quickly lose the form I began with. It used to feel like a kind of loss, that I couldn’t hold onto that original idea, but now I understand that this is part of the process. Coincidence and the confluence of circumstances in materials take over, that’s just how it is. Only after that, when the form is released, all sorts of things happen. It’s a very funny thing when that happens, time is just slips away for a while. Just like when you’re making music.’
When is a painting finished?
‘Sometimes I think I’m making some kind of compromise when I decide something is finished. But often the work just tells you when it’s done. I don’t really have to think about it anymore. The image shows you whether it is finished or not. If it isn’t, it’s usually because there’s not enough power in it. The tension is missing and therefore the work does not speak to you enough. If that’s the case, I usually put a work away. Sometimes it takes years before it gets a second chance.’
