Someplace Nice

When did you start making art?

As Long as I can remember I have always been drawing. It was in my late teens that I seriously explored the idea of becoming a full time artist. And I would` say my professional career slowly but steadily began after graduating Art School in 2017 (Royal Academy of the Heage).

Tell us a little bit about how you came to make art?

When I was really young I would spend a lot of time in my head. I would really get lost in all kinds of fantasies. Weird stories and characters partially inspired by stuff I saw on the television, but also stuff I would fabricate in my young little head. Drawing was just a way of making those fantasies more vivid for myself. And it just always felt really good to do. Relaxing in a way. I'm happy there are still some of these elements in my practice today.

What is your approach or process towards painting?

At this point I just want to be as original as possible. In the visual aspect of panting but also in my thematics. The goal is not to be influenced by critiques nor compliments. And just have a lot of fun with the whole process.

Where do you find inspiration for your work?

It is a pretty wild salad from different sources. It mostly comes from Themes i don't completely understand. Love, Death ,Poetry, Certain philosophical movements, The spiritual, Art , And my position Within the arts. These are pretty grand themes for me. That's why I like to combine these subjects with more mundane topics and humor. To make them digestible for me and the viewer

What do you aim to communicate with your work?

It's not so much a direct statement. It's more an invitation to the viewer. An invitation to play in their heads with the symbols, themes and moods that are presented in my works. They can mean something very different to every person. In play there are no real conclusions.

Who are your favourite artists?

It always changes. But at this moment i'm really in to: Dana Schutz
Otto Dix
Phillip Guston
Heronimus Bosch
Peter Saul

Take us through a standard day in the studio for you.

I mostly Arrive at the end of the morning/Beginning of the afternoon. After having breakfast at my home , and having a walk in the park closeby. At the studio I always have multiple things I work on in rotation. This keeps me light on my feet and never bored. At this moment there is some claying, drawing, and painting going on for different projects and purposes. Music Wise , I mostly listen to NTS radio , and if I'm on a break with painting I sometimes fool around with my little synth set-up that consists of a little Korg synthesiser and a drumcomputer. Mostly i leave the studio around 5-6 PM but it can be earlier and it can be later.

Is there anything you'd like to explore in the future? New mediums or new themes?

One thing that's gonna happen is some exploration with Computer Generated Images for a future project. For the rest I'm super down to design Album covers and merchandise for bands I like. So if somebody is reading this that makes cool/weird music , feel free to send me a message.

You can find more of Jim's work @jimmooijekind