DE STER, a delightful estate. Water and greenery.
Walking and enjoying this green world of plants.
Years of observations (since 1976) of this site in my neighbourhood, a recreational area for Belgians on an average income, which nowadays, in times of globalisation, has mainly evolved to attract immigrants in the summer: Arab, Turkish, Jewish, Indian, Black and native Belgians in the winter. The world does not stand still. The effects of globalisation are visible in the transformation of today’s individuals or groups, now a minority amongst Westerners. This area, with a lake, a beach and woods: a place of relaxation for people amidst nature. It is interesting that my technique has also evolved over the years from closed, slow and fragmentary to gestural fragments, often bordering on abstraction.
Contact with reality, life in its specific aspects, is an important foundation for my work. How do you consciously create from your mind what is necessary for my concept of my ‘virtual worlds’? To do this, you must first recharge your battery with colour, form, movement and composition. The content then springs automatically from the gathered data. It imposes itself. Frequent, daily, continuous observations yield a vision. It is comparable to a scientist’s research. On this basis, you can make decisions. In this way, conducting recurring research is a necessity for creation. Even techniques manifest themselves differently in a different environment, like clothing for a different climate.
Moreover, I deliberately test various technical options: the British way of working, the French, and I have even discovered how the Greeks, as early as 400 AD, used a red line on their vases, which was then washed with colour. Excavations in Kabul (during the time of Alexander the Great) brought this technique to light. So nothing new. People remain within their own sphere. In terms of content, I have observed a far-reaching individualisation among Western people, who live in small units, whilst immigrants display greater social cohesion. They sit at the table with other families and share their enjoyment. Their place is not on the beach, but in lush, green spaces and in the shade of trees. For them, this is paradise, where everything grows, quite unlike the arid desert regions from which they usually come.
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