Charnel

Though we have our own All Saints Day in Belgium, you can hardly call it a colorful experience. Day of the Dead or “Dia de los Muertos” to the contrary, is rich of the usual folkloric art. Painted skeletons and skulls are placed on the streets and in the house; shops and markets sell sweets…

So I’ve been following art classes for some while at this point, I’m completing my third year this semester. I am, while me being absolutely all over the place concerning topic and style, being strongly encouraged – if not mildly obligated – to pick one subject and stick to it. My own interest guided me,…

Sometimes it’s as simple as reproducing a fashion advertisement. Or is it? This Donna Karan advertisement emanates a peculiar sense of simultaneous fear and refuge. The woman is at home between the savages, but she wisely chooses for caution up in the air. What does that say about the status of the human in the…

Abstract does not come easy to me.If you know my work you know I like a more figurative style, something concrete, recognizable even. But do I want to grow as an artist, I then have to try my hands at different lanes. Currently I’m following a workshop around the experience of emotion in creative work.…

Abstract does not come easy to me. If you know my work you know I like a more figurative style, something concrete, recognizable even. But do I want to grow as an artist, I then have to try my hands at different lanes. Currently I’m following a workshop around the experience of emotion in creative…

Sometimes in life, we can feel out of control. Things seem to slip right out of our hands, or we feel like we’re fighting an uphill battle. But then what do you do, if not to gear up and face your challengers? Samurai speak to the imagination of many. Robed in the most intricate costumes,…

Being on disability, I often find myself struggling with ways to fill in my time. I could, obviously, paint, but my own walls carry only so much weight-bearing capability, so I find myself every so often wasting time, with friends or without, waiting by the phone as so many of us. Truth is, any time…

This painting is emblematic for my choice of artist’s name. Charnel refers to two things. First the Hallstatt ossuary, where dug up remains are stored away but not before they are decorated with paint. It is a sight to see.Second, it refers to the french word charnel, meaning fleshliness, sensuality, carnality. Having french roots, I…

These boots of mine are impossible to get rid of. Though the painting has left my possession, the boots themselves remain mine. They are only five years old, but they are worn to the bone. Most of their mileage incurred during my homeless period. I can’t for the life of me explain how I managed…

My period being homeless was to say the least a turbulent one. Often days, I was desperately trying to get away, to hide from the harsh world out there. Many of us flee, to warmer places, into substance, we disassociate. We all try to work our way out of it and the truth is, it’s…