When the darkness becomes the canvas on which an image will come to life, you look at things differently. Darkness makes your eyes search for the one thing to focus on. Any recognisable shape or form. Your pupils dilate to allow whatever light there is, in.
In that darkness, something takes shape. It takes a while to see and come forward. In terms of painting; it takes a lot of layers. The decisions you make during that process seem to be more carefully considered, as if the very absence of light requires more deliberation.
There are a lot of things to be said about hope. But this one work told me that hope is being able to lay your head to rest at night, one hand touching the other, a with a faint smile fall asleep knowing your world will be there when you wake up.
In 2023 I created a body of work in collaboration with the composer Janneke Moes. Our work, titled “A Whisper of Hope” consisted of my work and Janneke’s multiple choir composition. “A Whisper of Hope” was performed on December 9 and 10, 2023 in Zeist and Amersfoort (The Netherlands). You can watch and listen to it here on my YouTube channel.
“A Whisper of Hope II”
70×100 cm, oil on panel
Leave a Reply