I usually just start working in my studio, using what’s available in the space. I begin with drawing and painting, experimenting with materials; I like to create monotype prints in my studio, without using a presser. It results in making drumming sounds which I see as part of the process/rituals. The beauty of working inter or multi disciplinary is that the work informs you what medium best serves. I don’t decide in advance.
I have an idea of what I want to explore beforehand. Then I see what arises in the studio. My research is studio based. The work in the studio generates the research itself. From that process, images or experimentation with materials takes place, which I later explore in depth on my computer. I trace and explore the origins, cultural heritage, popular uses of these images, and how they are linked to me. And then I try things out from a more informed perspective. I then experiment further to see what medium is best for that particular work.
It’s a process, and I keep myself open for surprises. Plans are often fragile, dynamic.
I mainly work with printing and painting, but sometimes I think the work needs sound too. I’m also a musician. And sometimes, instead of painting on the walls or canvas, the piece can be a sculpture or an installation. I like to keep those two worlds separate. Sometimes they link naturally, but I don’t set out to do that. My paintings have a lot of rhythms and sounds, a kind of relationship to music without sound.
I’m interested in pieces that are distorted. Distortion is a key word for me in both music and visual art. This translates to studio work using materials which go against one another, manipulating material in an unconventional way. For example: my work “ Handkerchief”xx is a monoprint made of tissue paper. The paper is fragile yet I am sculpting with it. That goes against the nature of the material. This is an example of how I use --and abuse --the materials.
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