"As a painter, I am concerned with the creative act, of coming to terms with the relationship between perception and being productive.
The dynamics that arise, particularly the tendency of grasping onto the known, the habitual and recognisable in the face of a fundamental desire to break through limitations and discover the unknown, become the material for exploring this relationship.
(Perhaps this difference between confirming the known on the one hand, and pointing towards and expanding individual and/or collective consciousness on the other, elucidates the difference between making and creating.)
For many years I have been searching for and, more or less, finding a means of painting, which reflects the perception involved in being creative; both in the creative act of making a painting and of looking at it. This proffers a simultaneous process of ‘looking at’ and of ‘being looked at’ at one and the same time; of ‘seeing’ and ‘being seen’; a sort of perceptual loop. These are ‚moments of meeting‘.
These moments, if perceived, reflect a state of mind we all know. They are self-conscious. We sense something, as if for the very first time and, at the same time, touch on and become aware of something, which is timeless. These moments are vital in their uniqueness and creative in their potential.
In these moments I perceive my position – perhaps my expectations, and limitations too. I also perceive an orientation, implied and offered by these moments in my relation to ‘an other’. These moments promise growth.
Often, quite incidentally, these moments stop us in our tracks. They jar with our sense of time and space, resonating somehow with a significance that goes beyond the reality of the event itself. They seem to expand beyond the actual time and the space of their occurrence, and point to a presence, which is, in its freshness, exceptionally authentic.
We are frequently, then, left grasping at what happened, wishing to unravel its meaning – which seems to contain, and perhaps wants to reveal, clarity as to the whys and wherefores of our existence. We are left with the impression it made on us, markings confirming, at best, the certainty of our being. This is certainly true of some dreams.
As a painter, I explore these moments, expanding them and fathoming their depth and their breadth. As paintings they are assessments, also reminders, of taking part in something vital."