My Work: An Introduction to the Why and How
I want to elaborate on my work and its backgrounds more comprehensively than in previous notes posted since this website was launched in 2003. (See the heading Articles in the menu on the left.)
The Why
In a television interview the Dutch author Jan Siebelink (interviewed by Willem Brands, VPRO television: ‘Books’, July 2011) said 'Literature is about the enigma of the human being'. Considering this I concluded that my work concerns the enigma of what one can actually see and that 'the individual', a part of all that is manifest, is only a fleeting, therefore negligible, element.
It is overwhelming to contemplate the phenomenon ‘earth’. Considering the immense universe, cold, dark, immeasurable and realize that our planet – insignificant in size and order, a glittering jewel, so varied and surprising – finds itself in the unfathomable emptiness amongst heavenly bodies uninhabited by man. This is the main impulse for my work.
To search for an answer to the enigma of human life within all of this is an illusion. All that rests me is to experience it and deal with it in my own way, literally. To define my feelings and thoughts alongside the landscape while holding the conviction that my life on this planet is a miniscule element in the overpowering and incomprehensible - this is sufficient.
Does it have any relevance and is this of any importance? Ah, experiencing this insignificance is of such unfathomable depth, and that once again, suffices.
Influences
THE LANDSCAPE
The landscape has always been the foundation of my work. By landscape I mean everything which can be observed in my surroundings – deserts, mountains, for example, as well as urban situations and city-fringes.
Searching for relevant stimuli over the years I experienced the following landscapes which became most important for my work:
- the Yorkshire Dales and the west coast of Scotland in the 1970’s;
- from the 1980’s until the 2nd millennium, Australia, particularly the desert and wild northern
regions;
- from 2000 onwards the polders of Zeeuws-Vlaanderen in the south of the Netherlands as
well as the Schelde River and
the coast;
- in 2002 the seemingly endless wastelands of Mongolia;
- in 2007 barren and vast Taklamakan Desert in northwestern China bordered by the
Northern and Southern Silk Roads
- in 2011 western China again, this time in Qinghai Province.
LITERATURE, MUSIC AND THE VISUAL ARTS
As well as influences derived from chosen or discovered landscapes, my emotions and thoughts are stimulated by literature and music as well as the visual arts.
Works by Franz Kafka, Albert Camus and also Witold Gombrowicz started me on the path of considering the individual’s insignificance in the early 1970’s and 80’s. Robert Musil cannot be omitted from this list. Much later I read Babel and Platonov and recently discovered Sebald and Houellebecq amongst many others.
The writings of Zhuang Zi however, his sketches and lessons for life in which the relativity and ridiculousness of our existence are illuminated, outshine all the former.
The poets Wallace Stevens and Pessoa, Josef Brodsky, Martinus Nijhoff, Gerrit Achterberg and Cees Nooteboom continue to fascinate me as does the work of an exponent of the younger generation, Mustafa Stitou.
Obviously, the above list is incomplete.
The same is the case where music is concerned.
I am a music-omnivore and the key to the following list is that these are the composers I listen to when at work in my studio - Joseph Haydn and the later quartets and works for cello and piano by Beethoven, also Janaçek and Poulenc and Sjostakovitj’s operas, much of the work by Schnittke, Pårt and Benjamin Britten and the wonderful music written by Goebaidoelina and Oestwolskaja.
Thelonious Monk means a lot to me as jazz composer.
The visual arts, obviously, also present stimuli, but honesty compells me to say that music and literature have a greater influence on my work.
But, having said this, I must mention the non-European art such as the cave-paintings by the Wondjina tribe in northwestern Australia, for example, and the amazing form language of the early Chinese Shan Dynasty (1600-1100 B.C.) and the later Han Dynasty (206 B.C. – 220 A.D.)which are also stimuli. But I am not inclined to copy from these.
During the latter years of the 1980’s and the beginning of the 90’s I tried to create a kind of symbolism in my work but it was soon apparent that this was not leading anywhere.
As far as European art is concerned – Romanesque art moves me deeply. The total equality of figuration and abstraction is captivating. Regrettably this was nullified by what Colin Renfrew defined as 'the terror of the Renaissance' *, the compelling supremacy of 'realism'. This does not hinder me from being profoundly moved by Giotto, Pierro della Francesca, Ucello and many other Renaissance artists.
From the following centuries just a few names – Hercules Seghers, Velasquez and particularly Phillips Koninck whose work I always look for in museums because of the wonderful, to me very personal 'Dutch' landscapes, often enhanced by alienatening elements.
From the 19th and 20th centuries again a few names only - not because of disregard for other artists – Henri Matisse and Edvard Munch, especially his landscapes.
In my younger years I was directly influenced by artists from the so-called 'New Figuration' and work by Raveel fascinates me still. Not long ago on a visit to Copenhagen I came across impressive work by Per Kirkeby.
* Colin Renfrew: 'Figuring it out', Thames and Hudson, London 2003, ISBN 0-500-05114-3
Techniques
GRAPHICS
At the institute which was later to become known as the Gerrit Rietveld Academy I received my educaton in the graphic arts and this reverberated in my work, also in paintings and sporadic drawings, for many years. From the beginning I felt a preference for the silkscreen technique. Every now and then and for varying reasons I used gouges and linoleum but silkscreen, until recently, remained my primary graphic medium.
For financial reasons and because of lack of space, I did not acquire the necessary tools myself but sought co-operation with skilful printers with whom I worked closely together, intervening where necessary and mixing my own colours.
Rolf Henderson was my first printer in 1973 and in the 1980’s I worked with Master Printer Chris Prater (Kelpra Studios) in London. When this became financially impossible due to the dramatic revaluation of the pound I found Bernard Ruigrok, gifted printer and coach, who was prepared to work with me. His technical know-how enabled me to change from sharply outlined forms to more direct, spontaneous images as had happened in my paintings and drawings, and to retain the silkscreen technique as a medium. Later, after 2000, he introduced me to the piëzography as an alternative to the silkscreen.
The linocut which forces one to strictly organize one’s thoughts and can often lead to a welcome reorganization, is also a medium in which I sometimes enjoy working.
Artist's books , bound or as loose-leaf sets of prints in a cassette or portfolio, mostly have a literary background, for example a selection of text fragments from poetry by Wallace Stevens ('One must have a mind of winter'), W.S. Graham ('Benaderingen van hoe ze zich gedragen') and Richard Pietrass ('Holterdiepolder/Holderdepolder') or a selection of poems by various poets in the books 'Elements' and 'Water'.
My first book ('Als een boom die bloeit en overwintert') launched in 1982, is an anthology of poems on the 4 seasons selected by Jacques Hamelink and was commissioned by Atalanta Pers in Baarn.
My latest book 'By the River Wang' contains poems by the Chinese Tang Dynasty poets Wang Wei and Pei Di. This and many other of my publications were also made in co-operation with René Bakker of Atalanta Pers.
Other editions such as 'Borders/Transitions' from 1982-’83 and 'Notes on 50 years', commissioned by John Loose in 1985 when I turned 50, had a non-literary background.
I also published my own books, and from 1996 on, many via my own 'Derby Pier Publishers'.
DRAWING
Until 1988 I drew sporadically and the drawings were characterized by a strict line-pattern and organization, in which the use of the ruler was not always shunned, and closely linked with painting.
In 1987 I visited Australia for the first time. The confrontation with the landscape, particularly the desert and the coast, was so intense that drawing became something totally different for me. It was now a direct, forceful reaction to what I observed and my spontaneity was liberated, so to say. The technical drawing pen was replaced by the brush and since then ninety percent of my drawings have been made, initially in waterpaint, later in Chinese ink, on watercolour paper and later mostly on mulberry paper.
Colour is sometimes added to the brush paintings which can lead to the discussion whether it is a watercolour or a coloured-in brush drawing. As far as I am concerned it can be either.
PAINTING
The graphic arts occupied most of my time at the beginning of my artistic career but gradually painting took over. The precision which characterized my printed work was also evident in my paintings and drawings. This changed dramatically during and after my first sojourn in Australia. Another development was the sometimes enormous difference between drawing and painting. (See under the heading Articles on the left, 'About drawing and painting'.)
My early paintings consisted of sharply outlined colour fields. The paint was synthetic on caparol base, the colour was supplied by powder pigments. Later on I used acrylic paints. Visible brush strokes and other signs of emotions were to be avoided whereever possible. My mind was occupied with the concept of 'doubting', such a fragile domain that it must not be apparent in the applied technique; the surface was meant to play an unimportant role in what I intended to portray.
After a period in which there was already more motion in the image but my technique was still more or less immobile, came the shock brought about by the Australian landscape.(See above, under 'DRAWING'). This also had consequences for my painting. The brush strokes were liberated and the colours burst from their moulds.
Until about 1995 I continued to work with the much-improved acryl paints and later the swift acrylic sketches, after being sanded, were painted over with oils. Nowadays I prefer oil paint because of its many advantages and I also apply glaze.
Admittedly, the modern synthetic paints have similar possibilities but perhaps most important of all is that oil paint smells so inviting.
Hans Landsaat, September 2011