Inspiration:

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Painting can be a dance of discovery for me – I’m drawn to the vibrant colors, the joy of mixing them, and the fun unplanned and unstructured creating. Motivation and inspiration often emerges from “just” doing it and is shaped by feelings or unconscious memories. Sometimes I notice that I create patterns I’ve absorbed from my work as a bioinformatician. While I never intentionally draw inspiration from nature, I’ve found that the patterns and forms I create often exist in the natural world if you look closely and curiously enough.

My creative process is a reflection of my personality: playful, sometimes bold, exploratory, and driven by intuition and curiosity. When painting I am outside of the strict expectations of adulthood, focusing on fun and the feeling of freedom. Im often looking for contrasts, and like large, irregular shapes, small patterns, unintentional lines, and the interplay of organic and geometric marks. My color palettes are often vibrant and full of contrast, and I enjoy challenging myself by choosing hues I initially dislike – turning them into creative puzzles to solve. This approach keeps me engaged and open to the unexpected.

Water seems a source of inspiration for me. Oceans and lakes captivate me with their blues, greens, depth, and mystery. I love the act of jumping into water, the weightlessness – imagine being under the surface with your whole body looking up and seeing the sun rays coming through. Watching others enjoy that same freedom makes me happy. It mirrors how I approach painting: I dive in without overthinking, embracing the unknown and letting the process carry me forward.

Challenges and randomness are integral to my process. I approach painting with a mix of analytical problem-solving and impulsive, unplanned decision-making. While part of me is drawn to structure, patterns, and logic, I most often more inclined to abandon those frameworks and work based on instinct. This duality – the interplay of analysis and intuition – keeps the process dynamic and exciting. I enjoy setting up “problems” for myself, whether through unexpected color choices or unpredictable techniques, and then responding to them in the moment, letting the tension between planning and improvisation lead to new discoveries.

With every painting I reach a point where I feel stuck or frustrated, ready to abandon it. But I’ve learned that those “ugly” layers are necessary for discovery. Sitting with discomfort makes me find solutions I didn’t know were possible and I couldn’t have created by following a plan. This unpredictability is what keeps me coming back to the canvas. For me, painting is a celebration of going with the flow, accepting the circumstances (to an extend) because I trust myself to be able to make it work – an expression of my playful spirit, and a reminder to stay open to the endless possibilities of creation – and of life itself.

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