The on-line mind-map of K_Van’s artistic work. A fascination for objects translated onto in low polygon forms. Oil paintings, drawings, sculptures, progress dating from before 2010 to the end of 2017.
K-Van: “I have developed a unique method of using embroidery and stitching technique in my paintings to make geometrical objects. I use the embroidered threads as a guideline or a set of rules.“

There is a hunger in K_Van's work that drives him forward.

This painting was selected for the

Biennale of Santorini 2012

and depicts a low polygon submersible object. The paint has been applied in several layers using a rough small brush that created a texture.

Mainly the warm blues. Cobalt blue, ultra-marine and phtalo blue

were used mixed with Zinc white for its non-opaque qualities allowing for a shift in tone. Prussian blue is mixed into the grey to give the background a cold tone.

A low polygon Hexagonal object on a flat plane. The image is reconstructed from a digital image. The intersecting points are transferred onto the canvas using embroidery threads and a needle. The long threads represent the vectors of the drawing. These treads are finally glued onto the canvas using rabbit skin glue.

The oil paint pallet consists of 32 different types of blue hue.

The grey background is build up using several thin layers of grey paint. The image remains aloof, floating on or above the earth.

After the initial sketch on paper a digital model is made with a horizontal plane.

Sketch: 3D digital build-up. Contrasting blocks combined with a descriptive form.

Top view sketch, recreating wind movement.

2) a standard 3D build up with view-ports; perspective, top and right. (My interest in 3d modelling started in 1984 with VU-3D for the ZX Spectrum home computer.)

From the initial models made in 2013 I continued with these paintings. They are a mixed media using traditional painting combined with embroidery. The lines making the figures are embroidered using coloured threads. The brown and white surfaces are painted using oil colours.

Breaking the polygone borders, the brush stroke start following the curvature of the model.

Yellow, yellow deep, violet, Indian red, Vandyke brown.

A lighter sky area is places near the right top corner.

The coloured threads are sown on the canvas using long stiches to ensure the straight vector lines.

Close up of thread embroidered on canvas. The threads are glued onto the canvas using traditional rabbit skin glue, which ensures elasticity

Two tubes inter connected

The artist and 5 trees

Progress detail, bright greens provide a harsh contrast.

early trees

3) First colour build-up on the canvas, using warm oil colours on the foreground such as cadmium yellow hue and cobalt violet hue.

3) The strong contrast is reduced with warm greys. In the final image I again used Cadmium Yellow and Violet to slightly enhance the contrast.

Reconstruction of the Foucault pendulum with a GeoSphere.

An industrial fuel injection device.

Using a rough brush and a yellow paint (which has a natural low opacity) I followed the angles of the polygons.

The dopamine receptor D4 gene, is known to influence novelty seeking and exploration behaviour in a range of species, including humans and birds.

GENE DRD4.

The coloured threads are sown on the canvas using long stiches to ensure the straight vector lines.

Study of mobility and light on large object.

Study of red bloodcells using warm grey.

Catalogue of the Beijing international biennial 2012.

Isometric projection.

Study of warm cylindrical objects.

Study on paper with charcoal.

Constructed puppet with 3D modeling program. I choose three different images for a painting and an animation. Inspired by 3 tone songs

3 tone animation

This image stills evokes laughter, the other two, help and bow.

Painting studio

theme underwater

work in progress

Work in progress, theme water. For years I had been working on a canvas size 90 by 90 cm. An appropriate format that suited my small studio space well. But after working on the rotating objects (small sculptures), I began working on larger canvases. The larger formats directly gave me room to work with the paint rather than the brush. The paintings from this point on become freer, and the interaction between the paint and the stitched raster lines is more diverse.

Exhibition rotating object
First Floor gallery Harare, Zimbabwe

A collection of small rotating objects

Getting the feeling for 3D in a sculpture using a mixture of paper mixed with clay.

When it is ready to produce spores, the fungus grows into the brain of the ant and releases chemicals that make the ant climb a plant then attach itself near the top. It then kills its host by devouring its brain, before sprouting a mushroom from the top of its head, which disperses its spores as widely as possible. Source: newspaper articles, radio reports and posts on the internet. Guardian.co.uk, National Geographic and PLoS ONE.

Steam pressure valve

stop the world button

Two figures

Triangular tube sphere. The paint is being applied outside of the lines, giving a free-er interpretations of the initial digital image.
(note the painting from 2014 uses a different angle).

Sketches made from terracotta clay, approximate size 2cm high.

Ball bearing sketch made from Terracotta clay. The centre peice rotates.

I have called the objects 'pocket art'. They are used to analyse form, weight, texture, handling and light fall. I carry the small objects in my jacket pocket.

Study object

Study objecta

Study object

meta-stem-and-pins, two object are covered with black ink.

A plaster dodecahedron. Twelve faces, diameter 4cm

Study, grey object

Two object, narrow connection.
Object textured with short bristled brush.

1) Study object: the Foucault pendulum. The pendulum is suspended from a cord of 67 meters attached to a ceiling swung freely backwards and forwards, is a simple device conceived as an experiment to demonstrate the rotation of the Earth. Conservatoire des Arts et Metiers in Paris

Study: object horizon, light, colour and sky. The -exit- from the islands of the eastern Aegean towards the coast of Asia Minor.

pre-Pressure detail

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Several layers of Cadmium yellow hues for the ring

1) a sketch for a sand sculpture broken down in different views.

Photograhic studies of buidings and their light fall. (Above: Radio and TV tower in Brussel, near one of my daytime temp jobs.)

sculpure

The paint is scrapped back to the threads

Permanent green, sap green, paynes gray, lemon yellow, cadmium yellow, zinc white, cobalt violet, Prussian Blue.

Permanent green, sap green, paynes gray, lemon yellow, cadmium yellow, zinc white, cobalt violet, Prussian Blue.

Permanent green, sap green, paynes gray, lemon yellow, cadmium yellow, zinc white, cobalt violet, Prussian Blue.

Permanent green, oxide of chromiumn, terre verte, sap green, ivory black, paynes gray, lemon yellow, cadmium yellow, zinc white, cobalt violet, van Dycke brown, Prussian Blue.

Using the 3D digital image, the information is transferred onto the painting. The painting (triptych) depicts a low polygon mesh representing a sculpture (a bear, ram, lion, dog and two playing children). This painting was part of the Beijing international bienniale 2012

proposal for an artwall

Itten explains seven kinds of colour contrast. For these paintings I focus on Cold-Warm contrast. Warm for the foreground, cold for the background

A domestic scene in the gallery three more visitors.
Galleries of contemporary art in Zimbabwe.

A collection of small drawings.

Drawings like these are filtered on a sense of mobility, weight, balance, texture and novelty. I redraw the selected drawing and may re-use them in new models for paintings. Pen and pencil on paper.

I exhibited this painting during “The Five Moons: Return of the Nameless and Unknown.” PyeongChang Biennale. It was a compelling and daring exhibition of contemporary art in Gangneung, South Korea 2017.

Ceramic study forms using white and red clay.

Early pocket-art. Experiments with small objects.

Object made with a wooden clay press.

Wooden objects inspired by sand mould patterns for casting machine parts.

During visits to the metal foundry, I was inspired by the process of the making of patterns. It is a skilled trade related to the trades of die and toolmaking. The pattern makers use specially designed measuring equipment (curved rulers) that are scaled in such a way that the pattern is made slightly larger in relation to the shrinkage of the cast iron.

Drawing exercises with compressed charcoal pencil on paper.

A wooden block cut with a CNC machine.

zero gravity low polygon model

This painting was exhibited during the “The Five Moons: Return of the Nameless and Unknown.” PyeongChang Biennale, Gangneung, South Korea 2017.

Non-rotating coordinates with the root at the centre.

For this painting, I constructed several models using modelling software and a 3Dprinter. This aided me to figure out the position of the bodies in the composition. During the painting, I concentrated on maintaining an open structure allowing the under layers to show through.
It is the last oil painting I made in 2017. To be picked up in 2019.



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The acceptance of imperfection.

I was inspired by the wind farms on our summer vacation trips in the countryside of Europe. The obscure forms of excessive surface areas attracted me. I examined the flow of space and the physical elements of the wind turbine. I presented this painting during the Larnaca Biennale Cyprus -first edition- in 2018. For this event, I unstretched the canvas in my studio, rolled it up and put it on the aircraft as odd-sized baggage. With more than 18000 visitors at the main exhibition, Larnaca Biennale became the biggest and most popular arts event in Cyprus that year.

A desolated abode, tools left behind after a certain unknown event.

I have some solar cells in the studio. The visual and physical properties of solar cells appealed to me. I like the lustre of the of zinc oxide stamped on the thin metal strips of aluminium, and the way the metal strips bend in a predictable manner. Inspired by the simplistic form, I scaled down the linework for the oil painting and concentrated on a plain curvature in a landscape.
I associate the painting with shelter and protection from the wind.

The center of mass of the bodies that are orbiting each other.

I tested the possibility of a newer physical space around the painted objects. The composition called for more space and a stronger presence of paint. I wanted to explore new boundaries by challenging the embroidered raster that I had set up.
With my savings, I bought two large canvases (2x2 meters) stretched on aluminium frames. Later that year, I stretched two more canvases on self-made wooden box frames. With the larger canvases, the painting process is more demanding. It asks for the physical awareness the canvas and the viscosity of the paint.