Michiel Oudemans

Paintings/Prints/Photography
Things of Wood
See all Michiel`s works

ARTIST STATEMENT

"When I was a student at art school my drawing instructor said: “Art making has to with the miles behind your pencil.” I really believe this to be true, not only with the act of drawing, but in all aspects of art making. Throughout my career I have experimented with various creative approaches in using materials to make a personal statement. I am influenced by the natural world of landscape, trees and botanical life. The printed images I make from this subject matter reveal the mark-making qualities so distinctive to the woodcut.

My other passion is making artist books which I liken to being the conductor of an orchestra! You direct a group of individual parts that are art forms in themselves, and bring them together to form a single expressive statement. I’ve discovered that by exploring the ‘book as art’, it gives me the freedom to create them as individual pieces. The materials I use, whether they are conventional or non-conventional, always seem to suggest and influence form. Each book is an exercise in the resolution of design and material to make form. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.

I find it important to explore traditional methods and cultural variations in a way that visually expresses past and present. The book combines concept and material and exists as a communication icon. I see a magical power in the book as an alternative art form that can manifest the awe and wonder of creative energy."

List All Artists

List All Mediums