Featured Artist
db Waterman

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.

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 watercolors, 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 characterized 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.

Kids inspire me. Their ability to transcend any given rotten situation is astounding. Playing tag in the ruins of a bombed Syrian city. Playing football in the most miserable neighborhoods. They are always looking for the light. They will save the future that our generations have really messed up, not even blaming us for it. If we only could keep the kid in ourselves a bit more, we wouldn’t be in such a mess. Art can help us to re-find our childlike innocence.

I think that now more than ever, the recurring themes in my portfolio are highly relevant. My art depicts the current state of the world, and how our children grow up in an often unfair as well as the deteriorating environment. Yet, it is precisely the children’s ability to transcend difficult situations and find joy and light in the darkest surroundings that are the much-needed hope for the future. Sustainability is also integrated into my works through the materials I use. Most of these are materials have been repurposed to be used in my artworks.

more. www.dbwatermanart.com