In my artistic practice, I call my work ‘occurrences’, in which I literally refer to the occurrences taking place in my studio. By creating a sort of chaotic atmosphere and tidying up as little clutter as possible, combinations of different materials come into being that I could not have predicted in advance. I often use photographs of everyday scenes that interest me as a point of departure for my work. I explore the combination of colour and shape and try to give this the acknowledgement that it deserves, asking myself how I could do justice to this colour and this shape. The function disappears; this information is lost during the creative process. I derive my inspiration from rooms that are cluttered with an abundance of objects. I can easily become overstimulated by this abundance. However, a single teaspoon can also unleash a plethora of emotions in me. I attribute human characteristics to the things around me. Depending on how I arrange them, these things can become imbued by tragedy, happiness, or other characteristics. A wooden slat looks much more endearing when placed in a corner, in comparison to in the centre of a room. This is because this wooden slat is being looked at by me at that moment. In this way, the occurrences start to belong to me – because I am the person observing them. To me, everything can provoke a favourable or unfavourable response, just as it can with every other human being. However you describe it, it has an essential appeal to my body. It is the subjective experience that counts, my personal connection with the colour, the material, and the shape.

What keeps me occupied is what I call the 'painting thing' issue. In this, I position myself on the interface of the manifestation of an object in the physical space and its painted representation on a flat surface. Painting, as a medium, allows me to remain true to my personal experience. I have always believed in subjective experience, and attach a great deal of value to this. This largely has to do with the fact that I am someone who is quickly moved by certain things. Making an experience your own starts with being in a place, perceiving a scent, a shape, a colour, etc. Specific stimuli take me to specific occurrences. The moment of attributing ownership starts after this moment has already taken place; this is when I start thinking about it. The word ‘thinking’ already tells you what it’s all about; thinking is what happens afterwards. This takes me to my studio situation, in which a collection was brought together of things to which I was attracted, and still am. This fact represents this thought.