Creative Artist
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Creative Artist -
Moving Paintings
Figurative and abstract intertwine in these interactive, moving paintings which provide the opportunity to create your own composition every day.
Do you remember the small slide puzzles from the seventies? These children’s games inspired Jan to create a new form of art.
In fact, his moving paintings are puzzles, varying in size. A painting can hold between 4 and 493 (!) pieces of wood, sized 10 by 10 cm. Each of these square blocks is a piece of art in itself, whilst also being part of a bigger picture. The minute detail and craftsmanship evoke wonder and curiosity; a hunger to find hidden treasures and connections in the artwork.
In each painting, a special piece holds the ‘key’ for unlocking the artwork. Once you remove this, you can change the composition by sliding the pieces up and down, left to right and turn a figurative picture into an abstract one or the other way around. Everyone can contribute, so each time you look at the painting, you are in for a surprise.
The ever-changing character of Jan’s artwork represents the ever-changing world in and around us: nothing remains the same and everything is connected.
"A Monkey too Far"
"Ton Sur Ton"
"Spotty Madness"
"Snow Line"
"The Promenade"
"Mr A.T. Bom"
"Progression"
Fixed Paintings
Visionary art.
‘Paintings grow whilst making them. Titles arrive. It is one big process of giving birth to a picture.’
Jan starts from a thought flow, a sketch, or simply the need to express his opinion about what is happening in the world.‘I am losing myself with a brush on a canvas.’
While painting, Jan is not concerned about composition and lines. His mind is just not thinking at that moment. He just follows his brush and creates images that have never been seen before.‘I am often surprised by my own creations.’
The result is stunning and his paintings range from predicting world-class events to protest art.
"Lion About To Go Off The Deep End"
"Wishing to be Human"
"Amaurosis Fugax"
"Growth Disorder"
"Sigmund"
"Lunatic"
"Natural Selection"
"Google View"
"Internal"
"Depth"
"Vision"
About Jan
Jan Vanstechelman is an autodidact and a Daltonist, so he has a different way of perceiving colors.
The only way to keep Jan quiet as a child was to give him a piece of paper and a pencil. Soon he realized that he had a unique gift, but art school was out of the question due to his 'defect' in color perception. As a result he was forced to develop his talent on his own.
However, the urge to paint and to draw was overwhelming. Fortunately, the teacher of an etching class noticed his gift and gave him free rein to create, which was a tremendous incentive to continue.
Additionally, he met Walter Selenuk, a Canadian painter working in Antwerp, who taught him - in just 15 minutes (!) - the basic skills of putting on paint and removing it with turpentine.
The next day, Jan produced an image that completely changed his life. He had found his calling. There was no stopping the picture-maker and mind printer inside of him.
Soon after, Jan came across the slide puzzle, a creation of renowned chess player Samuel Lloyd. Jan was drawn to this medium as it allows the viewer to actively participate in the experience. Fascinated by the huge number of different combinations possible, he created the biggest slide puzzle in the world, consisting of 493 pieces.
More Information
Jan Vanstechelman’s work can be viewed at his art studio in Leefdaal, Belgium.
E-mail:
jan.vanstechelman@gmail.com
Mobile:
+32 489 403 421
Instagram:
@jan.vanstechelman