The work is part of the series ‘Stories of Transition’ (2020 - 2021) This painting is inspired by the relation between the self and the soul. The self, with all its patterns and saboteurs, often causing difficulties and turbulence in life and is clouding the soul, which is pure in essence, peaceful and light. It is the feeling of longing to get closer to the soul, to get to the essence and connect with the spiritual world. The relation between the self and the soul is very personal, but also refers to the collective relation between life on earth and the spiritual world. The attempt to express this relation reaches back to ancient times and has been an important theme throughout history for many artists. - About the series Stories of Transition - The series is inspired by transition periods in life. Moving from darker, difficult periods into the lighter ones, navigating through life to find our own path and the inner spiritual transitions to restore the connection with our souls.These transitions often lead to breaking points in life, crossroads, difficult necessary choices and the need of letting go of the negativity from the past. The paintings are abstracted metaphorical translations about these transitions and processes. These abstracted metaphorical translations are staged on the island Patmos (Greece) where the beauty of the earth seems to touch a glimpse of heaven. Van de Graaf has visited Patmos several times and has used a lot of his documentation and research into this body of work. The inspiration of this body of work is semi autobiographical, but this given is not of any importance to Van de Graaf, who thinks that themes like spiritual processes, depression and letting go of the past are universal themes which concern a lot of people around the world. Van de Graaf is very interested in how the very personal can relate to the collective issues on these themes.

Robert van de Graaf

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Robert van de Graaf (1983, born in The Hague, the Netherlands) is a Dutch visual artist living and working in The Hague, the Netherlands. Van de Graaf received a Master of Science (MSc) degree in Architecture (Technical University Delft) in 2009. In 2005 and 2006, he worked as an intern in architecture in New York City, while also creating artworks in his West Harlem studio. Since 2012 he is devoting himself entirely to his career as a visual artist. He has since produced a large body of work, consisting of theme-based series of artworks which are exhibited in numerous online and physical exhibitions, like his solo exhibition at the ‘Salon des Arts’ in Maastricht, the Netherlands, in 2023. The exhibition was curated by Ad Himmelreich, curator and former conservator of the Bonnefanten museum (Maastricht) and he wrote an essay about the artworks of Robert. He has also been selected for the ‘Emerging Artist Programme 2023’ by Contemporary Art Collectors as one of the 20 internationally chosen artists. His artworks are published in several international art magazines and art books as Art Maze Magazine, Aesthetica Magazine, Artsin Square Magazine and art magazine Al-Tiba9. Robert enjoyed an intense private painting and drawing training at an early age (1996 - 2001) by the Dutch artist Erica Meyster (1949 - 2006). This period remains of great importance to his development as an artist. Van de Graaf is interested in the connections and relations between the mystical in this world, the sense and the dimension of the spiritual world and our soul. The works express a complex interplay of visual impressions combined with emotional and spiritual reflection. He draws his inspiration from religious and spiritual stories, mythology, mystical places and the philosophy of life. Though primarily working on his oil paintings, he is also using drawings and watercolours during the creation process. The works are layered, densely merging his diverse range of mark making, the expressive use of colour and studied compositions. The paintings are often large in scale and balance between the figurative and the abstract, giving a certain freedom to the viewer. His art is held in private collections through the Netherlands, the United States and France.