My aim here is to explore children affected by war and remind us of past wars; to serve as a warning for todays current wars; the view that we in the 21st century have yet to learn from the suffering and wars of the past. Quote from the book of Ecclesiastes 1:4-11 sums it up “There is nothing new under the sun”. By painting on real photographs of actual past wars I aim to remind and awaken the conscience of my viewers for change, that we may learn from the horrors of the past”. 

Human suffering for me brings about change, the change can either be positive or negative. It reminds us of our mortality and we are awaken to choose pure unconditional love or hatred; we see our true nature. God is love and through suffering we take notice of His existent, we remember that we cannot save ourselves for when death comes we return to the ground and our plans comes to nothing.

BUY ART

The boy clothed himself with strength and carries the load of a man with a broad shoulder. He stares ahead and stands firmly, unafraid off the storms coming, for he knows he must become a Man.

The ‘When boys become men’ series is the merging of historical images of men from 1909 to present images of young boys.

The combination of mediums evokes the notion that not everything is as it appears; it underlines a sense of tension between past and present. It explores what it means to be a boy and a man; simply that they are one, the same but tragedy may accelerate the man from inside the boy much sooner.

These series of commissioned portraits where inspired by the “Fauvism” style which began around 1900 by a group of Modern artists whose works emphasized painterly qualities and strong color over realistic retained by impressionism. Artist included Henri Matisse, Andre Derain and Kees Van Dongen whose portrait of Mademoiselle Bordenave (1905) is one of my favorite fauvism styles.

BUY ART

The boy clothed himself with strength and carries the load of a man with a broad shoulder. He stares ahead and stands firmly, unafraid of the storms coming, for he knows the Son of Man.

The ‘When boys become men’ series is the merging of historical images of men from 1909 to present images of young boys.

The combination of mediums evokes the notion that not everything is as it appears; it underlines a sense of tension between past and present. It explores what it means to be a boy and a man; simply that they are one, the same but tragedy may accelerate the man from inside the boy much sooner.

BUY ART

My aim here is to explore children affected by war and remind us of past wars; to serve as a warning for todays current wars; the view that we in the 21st century have yet to learn from the suffering and wars of the past. Quote from the book of Ecclesiastes 1:4-11 sums it up “There is nothing new under the sun”. By painting on real photographs of actual past wars I aim to remind and awaken the conscience of my viewers for change, that we may learn from the horrors of the past”. 

Human suffering for me brings about change, the change can either be positive or negative. It reminds us of our mortality and we are awaken to choose pure unconditional love or hatred; we see our true nature. God is love and through suffering we take notice of His existent, we remember that we cannot save ourselves for when death comes we return to the ground and our plans comes to nothing.

God’s greatest gifts are sometimes stored in the most flawed vessels that only the passionate can release.

The project is called ‘Lazarus’, the idea of bringing life back to old, broken and discarded masks I’ve collected, restoring new life to the masks by merging it with real faces — experimenting with West African masks. 

The work speaks of ancient past, the old ways. I want the masks to speak of new life, hope, change and transformation. From old to new, darkness to light and from death to life.

Work inspired by an ancient West African Mask.