Below you can find steps from the creation process of the works containing plexiglass. I find old books at markets, second hand shops, and in private collections.
It there's a book that catches my eye, I have a couple of conditions before I go any further.
- It can only be on informative book with dated information, or with information that can be found quicker or more elaborate on the internet than in the book itself.
- It cannot be an antique book. If I would cut in this, a bit of human history would be destroyed.
If the book meets the conditions above, I'll check them for interesting illustrations. This is where the first idea for the work comes alive, which will evolve many times before the final work. I also check whether the paper is workable; it should have the right thickness and structure. It cannot be too smooth, too thin, or have a mirroring quality.
Based upon my first idea, I cut out a lot of individual illustrations, way more than I'm going to use. Based upon combining the images, the idea for the work will start to change.
Some illustrations are so impressive that I work the concept around them. This sea devil became the basis of this work. It cost a lot of patience, concentration and broken knifes to cut out this deep sea fish.
At a certain moment I have a couple of illustrations ready, and my brain has to decide how to continue. In this process, I'll cut out way more images than can be seen above, just until I have enough interesting stuff to put together.
Many days and hours of restructuring can pass before something starts to work. If I'm satisfied with the idea and composition, I glue the images in place.
Of course, the fish needed an aquarium. For this, I cut a hole into the original book.
I keep every page I cut out of the book. When I'm done, I look for my initials, which I stick somewhere on the art piece. This serves as my autograph.
And finally, after the addition of some waves...
...I finished the work Big eyes after a couple of weeks.
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