In Motion

In Motion - Meditation, 2026.
Gouache, coloured pencil and black marker on kakejiku hanging scroll with Japanese paper.
174 x 42.5 cm (image ca. 123 x 25 cm).
Euro 780

STORY:
AN EXPERIMENTAL MEDITATION: IN MOTION ✨️

This is my largest and most experimental meditation so far. In December 2024 I made my first ‘meditations’. I was looking for something new, which I could create in the moment without too much thinking ahead. I started creating from a place of flow with no plans, playing with lines and colour. These abstract works, which I call Meditations, bring me calm and clarity. Just me and the paper. They keep transforming in a natural process with each work I create.

With this meditation I took things a step further. I decided to make the meditation on a Japanese kakejiku (hanging scroll). These hanging scrolls are traditionally used to display paintings and calligraphy, usually mounted on silk and with a flexible backing so they can be rolled and stored easily. I wanted to mix tradition with modernity and the first problem was that I had no idea how to begin. This scroll is entirely made of Japanese paper: should I paste another paper on the scroll and paint on there? But that might not work and warp or detach from the scroll over time.

In the end I decided the paint itself would form my canvas. The meditation is drawn on thick layers of yellow-ochre gouache paint. I decided to do this freehand to create an organic feel. Up close, you can see that the canvas doesn't form a straight rectangle; there are paint splatters on either side, and sometimes even chunks of paint to create a difference in texture. Due to the long and narrow format of these hanging scrolls, the feeling of this meditation naturally is different from others. I feel like it really ‘flows’.

This is how ‘In Motion’ was born. I am happy with this new direction and its monumental size and free style. It fits in a direction where I want to be more experimental with my work and mix mediums together. What do you think?