About Dick van Dijk

I learnt to paint in a classical way: by observation, with solid anatomical underpinnings, but in my own practice I am mainly interested in what you can leave out, suggest. My work is figurative and inspired by the male figure, but I do not seek realism. As a trigger or motif, I find my images in photography or the media. Through painterly discoveries during the working process, I let go of this and a more layered reality emerges.

My process is exploratory: in the process of painting I try to find a (new) image - instead of the pre-defining everything. I'm trying to build an image from multiple layers of paint and from the peculiarities of the paint itself. But it is a controlled process.
I work from a plain background and build the image in slow layers. I combine a thin and sparse use of oil paint - whereby the oil looks like watercolour - with a stronger application of the paint that I would not get from watercolour. Foreground and background are sometimes mixed; Some forms are painted in detail, while omitting other forms; but for the eye the picture still is a whole. Colour introduces new variables in each work. I work at a small size, (usually) paper.

My work is based on images that I find in everyday life, on the street, on the road. But I combine them freely. I often ignore the reality of space. I cut and paste. As a lover of people I focus on people: put people together, creating group events, or single out one face or interaction. In spectacular colours that mix and sift through. A longing for intimacy, freedom, beautiful moments, special trips and events. This collage-like approach is of all times, but for me it also relates to our digital lifestyle and the dominance of images in contemporary media.