Sweeping under the rug

Sweeping Under the Rug
140x140 cm painting on canvas 
Media: acrylics, oil pastel, dry pastel; 

This work comes from the phrase sweeping under the rug, but I am more interested in its metaphorical meaning than in the object itself. For me, it speaks about the things we try to hide, avoid or push away, hoping they will disappear if we do not look at them directly.

At the same time, the painting plays with a recognisable rug-like form. The image suggests something familiar and domestic, but it is not calm or decorative. It feels disturbed, scratched, pulled and moved. I wanted the surface to carry a sense of motion, as if something is being covered, uncovered and dragged at the same time.

There are also many visible shades, overlaps and layers of movement throughout the work. I see this especially in the background, where the surface becomes more complex and shifting, almost like a transition within the metaphor itself. The foreground holds more of the direct movement, while in the background there are already traces of red and more yellowish stains appearing through the surface. For me, these layers help create a feeling that something is not fully settled, but still changing and moving underneath.

The work is about that tension between hiding and revealing. What is placed underneath still leaves traces. It does not fully disappear. It stays in the texture, in the marks, in the weight of the image.