LUMINESSENCE= LIGHT & ESSENCE

 

LIGHT reveals what is underneath, the ESSENCE. 

In my work I explore contrasts.  As one kind and very observing reviewer once put it, my art consists of “… an element of structure within a certain free play. Shiny-dull, rough-smooth, warm-cool, hard-soft, linear-flowing. Juxtapositions of disparate elements […] seem to speak powerfully”.

 

Contrasts call our attention, focus our gaze and mind on a detail and bring us into the presence of the work of art. The contrast that caught the eye will become a gateway  for the onlooker to explore the rest of the piece close up with the eye being guided by a strong composition, from juxtaposition to juxtaposition, while sensing the underlying stability and balance.

 

The process of getting to the ESSENCE of things  is conveyed in my art through a multilayered process of revealing colors and textures buried beneath the surface. My pictures and sculptures allow and invite you to look below the surface –  literally and metaphorically.

A combination of additive and subtractive processes lead often  to an archaic quality in the appearance of my work. The incisions in my paintings reveal an abstract mixed media painting in its own right, onto which a fragile gold leaf composition is superimposed skin-like. At times several layers and formats of gold leaf are required to achieve the desired effect.

 

My body of work acts on more levels than is immediately apparent:

To me gold leaf is like skin on a person: it covers the being. On a visual level gold leaf covers my abstract paintings; we cannot look at the underlying colorful composition directly, just like we cannot see a person’s character from looking at their skin or appearance. We have to go deeper to see their ESSENCE.

And as we might do with a person who we get to know better after looking beyond the appearances, we may continue to analyze and interpret my pieces on a cognitive level; put a mental label on shapes, textures, patterns, colors or discover the memento universi ©. By seeing how they are all connected we are invited to experience the energetic flow and depth of the artwork on a visceral level. Visually, we are still perceiving a skin of gold leaf – but we can now recognize from a visceral experience what lies underneath…Go deep and enjoy!