The Inner Beauty
The Inner Beauty began in 2019.
The electronic music of Philip Miller and the expressive movement language of South African dancer and choreographer Dada Masilo became important sources of inspiration. The paintings developed from dance, music, figurative fragments, associations and colour. In that sense, the work continues ideas that were already present in Igoriaans.
The project travelled through Heerlen, Vlaardingen, Schiedam and Rotterdam. During these different periods, the separate parts continued to change. The original eight sections evolved in different directions. Three were developed further during the Rotterdam sessions, while another later became part of Portraits of the Now (Life is Long). Their different underdrawings, ways of painting and colour palettes still reveal these separate stages.
In 2026, everything comes together again.
Today, the paintings are finally standing together in the studio. It is a journey, a return journey and a journey in the present. I find the calm and the time to look, to connect separate parts and to assemble them again. Painting begins almost by itself.
I use three sections from the Rotterdam sessions. I paint a new first section, while the second and third are overpainted and reworked. By working on these paintings, I return to the rhythm of Heerlen and Rotterdam.
Stravinsky does the rest. A compilation of his music, always with a portion of The Rite of Spring. Bach is for later. Bach is for Maastricht.
Willem de Kooning returns as well, especially in the way he adds, removes and transfers one thing into another. His idea that a painting is never finished, but is always in a state of becoming, is important here. The same applies to his drawings, in which he freely combines, collages and assembles. This is also where Cy Twombly enters the work.
In the 2026 versions, the figurative elements become more pronounced again. They offer something to hold on to, both for the viewer and for myself. Never as direct representation, but as a suggestion of the original impulse: the dancer, the dance, the choreographic image and the abstract movement of the music.
The Inner Beauty began in 2019.
The electronic music of Philip Miller and the expressive movement language of South African dancer and choreographer Dada Masilo became important sources of inspiration. The paintings developed from dance, music, figurative fragments, associations and colour. In that sense, the work continues ideas that were already present in Igoriaans.
The project travelled through Heerlen, Vlaardingen, Schiedam and Rotterdam. During these different periods, the separate parts continued to change. The original eight sections evolved in different directions. Three were developed further during the Rotterdam sessions, while another later became part of Portraits of the Now (Life is Long). Their different underdrawings, ways of painting and colour palettes still reveal these separate stages.
In 2026, everything comes together again.
Today, the paintings are finally standing together in the studio. It is a journey, a return journey and a journey in the present. I find the calm and the time to look, to connect separate parts and to assemble them again. Painting begins almost by itself.
I use three sections from the Rotterdam sessions. I paint a new first section, while the second and third are overpainted and reworked. By working on these paintings, I return to the rhythm of Heerlen and Rotterdam.
Stravinsky does the rest. A compilation of his music, always with a portion of The Rite of Spring. Bach is for later. Bach is for Maastricht.
Willem de Kooning returns as well, especially in the way he adds, removes and transfers one thing into another. His idea that a painting is never finished, but is always in a state of becoming, is important here. The same applies to his drawings, in which he freely combines, collages and assembles. This is also where Cy Twombly enters the work.
In the 2026 versions, the figurative elements become more pronounced again. They offer something to hold on to, both for the viewer and for myself. Never as direct representation, but as a suggestion of the original impulse: the dancer, the dance, the choreographic image and the abstract movement of the music.
The Inner Beauty 1, 2019-present
Acrylic and charcoal on canvas
300 × 200 cm (118 × 79 in)
work in progress
Acrylic and charcoal on canvas
300 × 200 cm (118 × 79 in)
work in progress