About my work
About my Work
As a Painter, Sculptor, and more recently, a Photographer, my works exists in the context of time. I work in several mediums, and do not favor any specific one. I focus on the emotional and psychological aspects of my subjects, particularly in the way that the body expresses dialogue and emotions. My imagery captures this, and my expressive philosophy which becomes an artistic language, embraces Post-Modernism, Expressionism and Surrealism. It reflects my deep awareness of global issues, and is counterbalanced by my personal cultural heritage. I draw my inspiration from life and nature. It is too spiritual to express in words, as it involves a transfusion of and between different energies. I use a certain iconography which becomes a language. My art has made me realize that nothing on earth exists in isolation, and that all things are interlinked. In order to see the “impossible”, you need to see the “invisible”. My art involves a “leap”, but only if the viewer is prepared to undertake it. The unique expressions in my art involve the artistic attitudes and language of that can be understood through emotions. My art conveys powerful messages about me, its maker. Although the figures in my compositions kiss and harmoniously balance and interlock with each other, all actions are synchronized conceptually. Each figure is isolated psychologically from the others in its own realm and from the viewer. Moods of introspection and soulful contemplation prevail, each with its own intimate dialogue. I create an archive of images that are socially powerful and visually poetic. Truth in life is revealed in nature. As a creator of art, I am guided by nature which forms the subject matter of my art. All man-made forms are drawn from ‘nature’, and are that dependent on it. I am more concerned about man’s psychological and spiritual well-being that his physical needs. I have gradually become aware that my own development as an artist is influenced by two forces –on the one hand, God, and on the other hand the inter-relationship between nature and life. It is the capacity of diversity to break monotony and engage in the hidden realms of energies that causes them to rise and communicate with the hidden realms of nature. Energies cannot be explained or taught: they can only be communicated and learnt. The process of art awakes these energies and involves them in dialogue. ‘Spirits’ is superior to the ‘mind’ and to ‘study’, and in metaphysical. I focus on its intense abstract, philosophical and imaginative transcendental power which is at the centre of my concepts. My art expresses my deep awareness of global and what issues and is counterbalanced by my personal cultural heritage. Inspiration: Life and the mental energy which creates the dialogue, leaps and spirals into the imaginative energy that breaks monotony. I paint reality, not dreams, because I do not know what dreams are. To me, it is always clear what belongs to the real world, and what belongs to the world of dreams. I don’t dream, don’t experience dreams, and don’t paint dreams – but I know about life, because life is visible and I can touch and feel it. I cannot describe the process in which I create art- it is too spiritual to express in words. However, it is the same expressive energy as the work itself, a transfusion between different energies. My work explores the hidden region of the psyche. Inspiration comes from an awakening reality in which the visible world and interior reality interpretate and fuse. Emphasis is placed on ‘the power of the imagination’ and ‘childlike innocence’. Imagination alone informs me of what could be – pushing the irrational to its ultimate consequences. I use a certain iconography and language in my work which are and become characteristics of me. What I imagine and believe becomes reality in my art. Art defines itself. Reductionism in central to the thinking is behind my work. I reduce images to symbols- here the symbolistic expressionism which preoccupies and resonates through my work and becomes my style of expression. Some lessons in art cannot be thought, learning comes from living or experiences. I transcend intellectuality into forces which are manifested in my work. All things are manifested in my sensuality before they are transcended. Art is an expression of spiritual journey. Time: Time did not exist until it’s time came. So my paintings did not exist until their time came. Art has helped me to see that nothing on earth exists in isolation: all things are interlinked and connected. Nature is a harmonizing force. The understanding of my paintings involves the relationship between two people’s imaginations- the viewer’s and the artists. To reach into my paintings, to really understand them, you need to know what to look for, and be prepared to use your imagination. Becoming involved in this way involves undertaking a voyage of discovery in ‘reading’ the intellectual and emotional content of my paintings, embracing the use of symbols, the appeal to the senses and emotions through color, and the expression of social and cultural attitudes. My paintings should enlighten the mind and speak the imagination. If they do, they have become my voice. Light does not just show movement and effects in form and color, it awakens the intent of the soul in mu paintings. I strive for the general and the typical, appealing to the mind rather than the senses through color, form and composition. The Figure: Each figure must ‘read’ emotions that are related to a given event. I am not married to the content of my art, only to the spirit of its content. Great art lives by its own rules and timeline which hardly ever favor the artist who creates it. There is a silent quality in great art that can be served in the works of both old Masters and contemporary artists. If art speaks beyond the times of its creator, it may be great. I do not rely on other people’s opinions to tell me whether art is unique or superior. Each of us must take our own judgments. I discover and create an artistic language that evokes a situation or image that speaks in the future tense. I believe that art is a spiritual calling. It should exist in spiritual realms. It reveals that which lives within. Art is not merely a vehicle for religious and social teaching, but is rather a mode of expression. It reflects aspects of time, and the compression of space and the mood of sadness that pervades it, and it conveys a psychological tension. As such, art reflects a spiritual force. The process of my work is a dialogue which changes as time passes. This dialogue is the guiding principle that determinates the process of my work. It is mysterious and pleasurable when, in the course of looking at the world, you find something that suddenly seems significant. That field - or street - or person. That light! The challenge then, is to do the work – with a controlled sense of heightened awareness – quickly in the field, more deliberately in the studio, and hope that the finished piece will reflect back to you some of what you felt at the time and that some other viewers might feel something which stirs a similar response. Sometimes, when it works, a viewer will seem to feel this and say so, and then the effort is particularly satisfying. Text was created in 2009 for Jurgen Borgers website in the United States by himself. Corrections given by VMH Valentine Mark Herman.