Eelco Maan

Into the Domain of the Soul

The creation of a painting – a personal account by the artist

Morning in the studio. Outside, the clouds are floating high in a blue sky. The new, virgin white canvas in front of me invokes a Zen-like meditation. The time passes whilst in my mind I visualize shapes, colour and movement.
Searching for a reflection of the senses, the mysterious, the unnoticed. The studio as a laboratory. Everything in a state of suspension. Anything is possible. Provided my self-awareness fades and passes the reins to hands, heart and soul. Inspiration is ever present, the Art is to be able to embrace it. Each painting represents its own universe. The mastering of materials and craftsmanship only add up to a fraction of the story. The artist is mainly an antenna or a conduit, an open window through which the Inspiration can flow.
Starting a new canvas is like taking a plunge in a northerly ocean. Cold and strange to start off with but gradually becoming invigorating and rewarding. I never make preliminary sketches so there is always the risk of getting lost into the emptiness of an untouched canvas. In fact, that does happen to me occasionally but this can be beneficial and there always seems to be a way back- or forward in my paintings.
There is also agitation and an urgency. Something has to happen; a manifestation within that great, white ‘nothingness’. Beyond language, beyond thoughts and beyond the roaring of the ego. The art of painting induces speechlessness in the painter. Instead, the eye assumes command, the unadulterated vision and the lure of shape and colour captivate my attention. The Idea exists without conscious thought. There is meaning, not calculated, but intuitive.
Painting simultaneously exceeds and expatriates. I dedicate my art to visualizing a glimpse of life’s mystery and I hope that by externalizing this in my paintings this will also be visible to others.
It’s not possible to create a painting without descending into one’s self and posing essential questions. As such, the painter is a mystic, a visionary, an alchemist. Out of paint and canvas, he aims to create ‘gold’, symbolic, spiritual gold.
The ultimate painting for the artist is on a par with the Philosopher’s Stone for the alchemist: the gateway to the soul.


Eelco Maan
Basse, september 2006