Out of this world

In Paris, Van Koeveringe discovered the work of the painter Robert Delaunay, in particular his painting Rythme N1. She was sucked in by the amount of colour, the movement and the immense surface area. The big work gave her the confidence that she is also able and allowed to make anything.

"So when I walked out of the museum, I knew: I want this too. I wanted a big canvas that I could disappear into. I wanted colour – always lots of colour. I wanted movement, both in that which can be seen, and in the canvas itself. I wanted, I wanted, I wanted so much, but during all the hours I put into painting, I realised that this work stands for something bigger.
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To me, Out Of This World means that one cannot exist without the other, that you are always connected to everything. The only question is how do you relate to everything that unfolds to you every day. Do you flee from that which is going on or do you jump in the middle of it? And who have you gathered around you to sway with you? Do you share enough with that other – are you being honest then? – or are you isolating yourself from the world to paint a five-by-five-metre canvas? To come up with a new idea then, a new attempt to capture all that life somehow...”

Sytske Frederika van Koeveringe (1988) works as a writer, painter and screen printer. Her second book – Dag nacht licht toch – was nominated for the Jan Hanlo essay prize. Meeloper appeared last January. Van Koeveringe's visual work is especially recognisable by the amount of colour.