At a young age I was already fascinated by the behavior of people. As a child I lived in an almost perpetual state of observation, constantly looking around me: how do we relate to each other, how do people show their feelings? How do we make contact with each other? I wanted to understand and express what I saw and felt, I mainly did this by drawing and painting at a very young age.
Later I expressed this in making art of people grouped together looking for contact. Everyone screams for attention, but nobody really sees the other. You feel friction between what we show on the outside and what we feel on the inside. I play with this paradox, with bright, vivid colors that leave the appearance of happiness and celebration.
When I had two daughters, I was inspired by their inexhaustible imagination and curiosity about the world. They are so real, genuine, open and playful. They still have a vulnerability and naivety that I admire. Children can keep looking at you without looking away. They make contact without words. That way of making contact fascinates me.
This is how my digital collages came to life, in which I show children in bright colors with an 'open mind'. Their faces with large eyes and slightly chubby cheeks accentuate childish innocence. They look like a child somewhere between a human and a doll. These children symbolize innocence, playfulness and vulnerability. They look at the world with natural curiosity.
For me, the technique of collage is about the social engineering of society. We live in a time where we think we can make everything in our own way with individual happiness as the highest good.