I paint the human body. The figure is often placed so close that it seems to press forward out of the canvas, physical and hard to keep at a distance. What draws me is muscle and the form of the body, and above all what light does with them: the shadows and highlights that give a body its volume and presence.
My work takes shape while I paint. I sketch as little as possible beforehand, but I work with a clear image in mind. The painting develops as I go, and I work fairly fast, from a live model or from a drawing or image. That speed keeps the work alive, it shows the hand rather than hiding it.
I do not make pretty pictures. When I walk through a museum myself, I stop at work that holds tension, work that provokes a little, that pulls you out of your comfort zone and is allowed to feel uneasy. That is what I look to make. A figure that meets your eye and stays with you, even when you would rather look away.
I trained as an art director. Alongside that, I regularly take courses at the Wackers Academie in Amsterdam, including with Alan McGowan. I work from my studio in North Holland. As a painter I was featured on the Dutch television programme Sterren op het Doek.