Grey Earth 2023

Grey Earth was a solo presentation at Art Rotterdam (2023) in collaboration with Borzo Gallery, reflecting on similarities between the nature of a landscape and the process of painting.

photo Niels Coppes

The monochromes are painted with just one or two earth pigments, applied in many layers and bound in rabbit skin glue. The pigments come from various regions in Europe and each of them has different chemical and physical properties. For example, Grey Earth from Belgium can either be pitch black or silver grey.

Ochre from Burgundy has both a warm brown and a cool violet undertone. And the colour of Slate depends on the particle size to which the rock has been ground. One has to surrender to the process of painting with these materials. Brushstrokes applied with this watery glue paint on a porous chalk ground are irreversibly fixed and can be seen in many different forms within this installation: small opposed to large, transparent to opaque etc. The surfaces of these monochromes appear to be autonomous landscapes.