With such a picture as seen from above, such a "falcon's-eye view", one has nothing to hold on to. In the history of art there are no references whatsover, not a single solution that others have already found. Suddenly shoulders of giants to stand on are in serious short supply. One stands peering at one’s subject like bit of a fool, and one feels a bit like some-one from the Middle Ages who - still ignorant of geometrical perspective - was trying to get the feel of space. And when the circumference of the base of the still life (a tabletop, a small crate etc.) coincides with the circumference of the painting itself, one creates a small island, a mini-universe. Moreover, such a "falcon's-eye view" can be hung on the wall in every possible way; traditional categories as above and under have vanished. A totally realistic painting and yet it doesn’t matter how you hang it on the wall. Gravity has been neutralized.

The apples, 1996, o/p, 41,5x55,5 cm. (private collection)

Falling apples, 1996, o/p, 40x50 cm.

Gravity. Also falling objects began creeping into my work. Again, this is an aspect of everyday reality that one doesn’t find very often in realistic painting. Certainly not as seen from above.

« 4. Falcon's-eye views |

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