Elude

This series came forth from a period in my life in which I attended different intensive ten-day meditation retreats. While mostly sitting still for days in a row I noticed I could ‘tap’ into an ongoing stream of images that seems to flow in a deeper level of the mind. Apart from personal memories, fragments from movies or media reports, there seemed to be a more archetypal flow of images that had no direct link with things I’ve seen or experienced before. The quieter my mind was, the sharper and more vivid the images became.

Coming home after the retreats, I’ve developed a way to use this visual level in my mind as a source for inspiration. Especially when I feel overwhelmed by global events such as the pandemic, war in Ukraine, or climate catastrophes, I sit down with closed eyes and observe what comes by, till I feel personally disconnected from what I see. After every session I draw simple sketches that I keep with me in a little book.

Although the images I see in my mind’s eye and the final photograph I create in my studio are always different, I make sure there are some basic similarities, such as certain shapes or objects, a set of colours or the overall atmosphere.