I like to think about figurative painting a little more broadly than simply as painting that depicts people or recognizable objects. For me, figuration also includes different figures of thought, figures of meaning, and associations around which an image begins to take shape.

Sometimes a painting begins with an idea. A thought, a question, or an intuition comes first, and only then do I start looking for the right form for it. I like to think of the painting as a coherent whole, where the form is an attempt to give shape to something that previously existed only as a vague feeling.

But sometimes the process works the other way around. I begin with the form itself, without really knowing where it will lead me. In those moments, I often have the feeling that the painting becomes wiser than I am. It begins to reveal meanings that I had never intended or anticipated.

I do not always want to explain everything that is in my mind. Sometimes I want to paint an idea out, to follow it and see where it leads. At other times, I deliberately leave things unresolved. I have the feeling that this is when the painting has a chance to complete itself.