The Crossroads of Life, 2020

The work is part of the series ‘Silence and The City’ (2019 - 2020) This painting is inspired by the crossroad at the ‘Church of the Guardian Angel’ in New York City. The painting is about crossroads in life, in both daily life as in spiritual li...

The work is part of the series ‘Silence and The City’ (2019 - 2020) This painting is inspired by the crossroad at the ‘Church of the Guardian Angel’ in New York City. The painting is about crossroads in life, in both daily life as in spiritual life, about how these two can come together and the difficulty of integrating spiritual life into daily life. It discusses moments during life when you are confronted with difficulties and you can experience guidance of the spiritual world, from the angels by your side. — About the series ‘Silence and The City’ - The series is inspired by New York City and the search for contemplation and inner silence in everyday life, about finding meaning in life and the connection of the spiritual world with everyday life. Every individual is confronted with a universal question how to find meaning in life. Van de Graaf feels a strong connection with the vibrance of New York City, but is also aware that searching meaning in life is sometimes harder when life is going that fast. The contrast between contemplation and the busy city life of New York City in a normal setting has been a great inspiration for him. He admires the ability of the city to be a melting pot of all kinds of people and really fell in love with the city. With this series he fulfils his wish to devote at last one series on New York. Van de Graaf draws inspiration from both the time he lived in New York City, 2006 - 2007, and his trip to New York in September 2017 and November 2019. When he was walking in New York City he was struck by moments of silence by different kind of places he documented. This documentation has been the starting point of this series.