Relations between people, shifts in world cultures and changes in the technological, architectural, natural and human domain are sources inspiration for me. They are all images and spheres that exist, both dependent and independent from each other.
Central in my sculptures is the human image: the human not as an individual, but as an universal figure. In my work I represent the time relatedness and the different levels of human behavior by using transparency. For instance in the sculptures ‘Silhouetten’ and ’52 Dialogen’ the corten steel is cut through with human figures. This produces special views, with many perspectives and represents vulnerability, captured in the hardness of steel.
As a painter I express this complexity, these different levels, by working with transparent layers and sometimes mixing them. The colors and the forms that I use in my works have a special meaning, a symbolic value and are a determining factoring in the composition. The titles that I give to my works are connected with this inspiration or with a recognition of my emotional or other experiences.
These layered compositions, connected to different elements of the image, give rise to multiple meanings and interpretations of my themes. They symbolize a fracture of time: for me time is an unending chain of events, without beginning or end, a cycle.
I have always been inspired by music, dance and literature. Travelling is another important starting point for my work. When I am in another county I am interested in the local cultures and in what motivates human behavior. When I was in New York I made a lot of paintings on the theme human-city. My stay gave me also a lot inspiration for new work that I completed in my studio in Holland. My journeys to South-America and Egypt provided me with completely different images, new impressions and new visions that I explored further in my studio. In 2010 I got the opportunity to work in Italy, in a guest studio as ‘artist in residence’. In Italy paintings on the theme human-nature came into being: a number of them you can see in this catalogue.
My working method comprises many techniques in different materials: paintings, mixed techniques on paper/collages, silk screen printings, sculptures in corten steal, ceramic objects.
www.ftn-books.com has one Peter van den Akker publication available
