What do you see when you watch from a distance? Due to the rise of social media and the overwhelming number of meaningless jobs, the conflict between humanity’s search for meaning and the universe’s deafening silence is more relevant than ever. I try to capture this struggle simply by painting what I see. I see myself as a storyteller rather than a painter and my work tells stories about fringe figures and subcultures. Whether it’s cleaning toilets or drinking too much during the holidays, with my colourful, often cheerful-looking works, I try to find comfort in the mundane. While my work often has a biographical aspect, I am not part of this world myself. I am an outsider among outsiders. A voyeur. That distance, that honest gaze, is something I think is very important. My works communicate, reinforce, and contradict each other. Together, they form a world in motion, where The Misfit takes the stage. A world that may seem strange, yet feels familiar.
“All these little stories are actually big stories if you think big about little people.” — Gay Talese
