Interview with db Waterman — Contemporary Art Curator Magazine

I assemble original photography, assorted papers, acrylics, oil, charcoal, ink and pencil in my works. The variety of resources I am able to use has proved indispensable to me. The biggest challenge the collage medium posed was its unforgiving lack of transparency. Finding a way to replicate the effects of transparency afforded by paint, especially water colours, was “a large victory” for me . The preparing labor shows through in my collages; layer upon layer of material remains visible in the finished pieces.

I believe my body of work is characterised by my skill for reinvention. Having always loved the appearance of weathered walls plastered with peeling paint and old posters, I revive this aesthetic with hopefully a keen and professional eye. The creative objective of my work is to “make something beautiful out of dilapidation.”My tableaus explore the dissonance between old and new materials, intertwined in the most beautiful possible way to create dreamlike and melancholy images.

My formative years as an artist were spent studying at the Art Academy in Den Bosch, NL. Today, I regard myself as self-taught, having developed my own distinct style out of the untraditional medium of collage. My work unites a variety of materials in careful compositions that I pride for their storytelling ability.

Could you please introduce yourself and tell us how you started in the arts? and your first experience in art-making?

I never started with art. It was always there. I breath and live art. I guess I am dominated by the right hemisphere of my brain. I think mostly in images, so art is a natural extension of what I am anyway.

I am grateful for the teachers who learned me the crafts of drawing and watercolor painting and the secrets of oil- and acrylic painting. The conceptual art-teachers and the likes at the Academy, however, drove me completely crazy. I started to think, maybe this is not for me. Now I know better…..

How would you describe yourself and your artwork?

Thorough. Precise and thorough. I need time to layer and adapt. Layers and details are important to me.

Where do you get your inspiration from?

From anything that touches me. Can be something coming from my memories. Can be something I see or hear in the everyday world. I don’t care where it comes from and I don’t think about it. I just am very happy and very grateful that it is there always. Enough for several lifetimes. An artist bloc seems an absolute horror to me.

What emotions do you hope the viewers experience when looking at your art?

Any emotion that is important to them. The same image can evoke totally different emotions and that is just fine. I know I am not looking for ‘nice’. If you want ‘nice’, go elsewhere !

When do you know that an artwork is finished?

When the next one is starting to pop up in my head. Time to finish, time to start again.

What has been the most exciting moment in your art career so far?

Realizing that I went from ‘Am I good enough?’ to ‘I can do this!’

How long does it take to produce one work?

According to my agents, too long.

I first create the work on paper, any work. I am much better creating on paper than directly on canvas. This will take me 2 to 4 days. Once finished to my own satisfaction, I recreate it on canvas, which may take a week or some longer.

What exciting projects are you working on right now? Can you share some of the future plans for your artwork?

I don’t do projects. That is not working for me. If a client wants to order more paintings at once, he/ she has to give me the sizes he /she is thinking of. I shall send him/ her images of the works on paper I have finished and he can choose whether he wants it on canvas or not. Works good for me and works good for my clients.

Do you have any upcoming events or exhibitions we should know about?

Not at the moment. But here you encounter my agents’ complaints. I haven’t got enough work available. I can have exhibitions in New York and Seoul among other places, but I haven’t got enough paintings. I am not complaining, though, I like to sell. I did not enjoy being the poor artist at all. Nothing romantic about that at all.