Wash your hands

Nik often listens to hiphop. But he also likes jazz. Not just your average jazz, but artist who experiment with their music. Just to try different things. Nik thinks jazz is exciting and fascinating. According to him there’s freedom in this kind of music.

When he was a teenager, Nik worked as a chef for a while. Before you touch the food you have to wash your hands. When you start something new you also wash your hands. You literally make a fresh start. 

Nik really admires Japanese artists. These artist can show a lot of different things in their drawings and paintings. But in a simple way.

For a year and a half Nik spent ten hours a day on drawing. Every single day! All of this to become better, to try  and discover new things.

There are a few rectangular faces in Niks paintings. Nik created these faces to ‘break the image’ as he calls it. As a way to break away from reality. It doesn’t need to be real. It kind of creates entrances and exits in the work.

‘As soon as the work is on display it’s up tot he viewer how he or she experiences the work. That’s when it comes to life’, says Nik.

‘When I was studying at the academie I could see who was working late at night and who wasn’t. The more I became aware of that, the more I thought about what it means to live as an artist. To be able to make a living out of it. If you work hard there’s a bigger chance of succeeding.’