I started painting as an act of healing. I went through a pretty tough psychological shake up about two years ago, which has left me quite unwell. As an exercise I started to write daily (I still do) and this transformed quite quickly into daily painted articulations of my reflections, feelings and observations. Here are a selection of these paintings. They have been given the title of ‘The Confessionals’ (in Dutch ‘Het Mag er Zijn’). During this process of healing I became aware that I had never granted myself the space to be or feel. By putting brush to paper I was able to make my thoughts and feelings tangible. At the beginning, each stroke of ink felt as heavy as a confession. A confession suggests wrong doing. It felt wrong to allow my thoughts to be. Even writing this now brings a tightness across my chest. Being truly honest, even about the most mundane of things is a scary business. I applaud any who embark! These paintings are and will remain an ongoing exercise in allowing myself to become present in space and to accept and recognise in all honesty the feelings that I have. The paintings can display encouragement, sometimes they exhibit frustration or anger, sometimes they reproduce the things people have said to me and sometimes they are simply (un)comfortably human. It is important that all sides of a person’s being are recognised and embraced. So here’s to the good, the bad and the ugly. #24
'I’m sorry to say this but, you’re not fooling anyone’
36cm x 42cm
Acrylic Ink + pen on paper
2022
#10
‘My bookcases are filled to make other people think I’m smart’
32cm x 49.5cm
Acrylic Ink + pen on paper
2022
#18
‘…and this is fine’
31cm x 44.5cm
Acrylic Ink + pen on paper
2022
#14
‘My Burnout was just as much my Fault’
42.5cm x 41.5cm
Acrylic Ink + pen on paper
2022
#17
'''Haar herstel is voor ons een te grote commitment’’'
35cm x 46cm
Acrylic Ink + pen on paper
2022
#40
‘You are truly rediculous’
26cm x 46cm
Acrylic Ink + pen on paper
2022
#23
‘Hush Dear, it’s okay, we are all insecure here’
31.5cm x 45.5cm
Acrylic Ink + pen on paper
2022
#20
’You are enough!’
34cm x 44.5cm
Acrylic Ink + pen on paper
2022
#27
‘Earn your cash far, far away from the things that really matter’
33.5cm x 53cm
Acrylic Ink + pen on paper
2022
#30
‘Compassion’
37.5cm x 34cm
Acrylic Ink + pen on paper
2022
#16
’Ik gun jou deze tijd’’
33cm x 41cm
Acrylic Ink + pen on paper
2022
#15
‘"Ze had eerder aan de bel moeten trekken"'
25cm x 42.5cm
Acrylic Ink + pen on paper
2022
#34
‘Het mag er zijn’
32cm x 39cm
Acrylic Ink + pen on paper
2022
