100 Islands
An installation of 100 paintings
100 Islands portrays Vlieland throughout the seasons. An experiment in which, over 50 days, I created 100 works (20 x 20 cm.) based on photos I took on the island over the years, capturing moments I experienced. As a boy, growing up in Friesland near the sea dyke, I spent hours gazing over the Wadden Sea. It was my refuge from an incomprehensible world, where I began painting.
During my time at art school, I often created series of paintings depicting landscapes: skies, horizons. In my final year, I worked on large canvases, reducing landscapes to their topographic descriptions.
Nowadays, I leave the conceptual behind to focus more on the painting process. Less thinking, more doing.
I create images in which you can disappear. Or rather, where I have lost myself. A significant portion of these paintings have been painted over earlier works. These works have literally disappeared, absorbed into the next Great Nothing. The 100 works form a grid of personal memories in which each individual painting enhances the others. However, each individual work is for sale, and if a visitor buys one, it must be personally removed from the installation at the time of purchase. The "100 Islands Sellout Show" explores the value of things that change when individuals claim pieces for themselves.