Erik Mattijssen: Noticing Things

The world that Erik Mattijssen creates with his work is open and bright, in a playful way both harmonious and strange. There is beauty to be found, and lightness, but also signs of melancholy. The way he deals with the darkness of life is indirect, playful, and mysterious, without ever becoming overly sentimental or frivolous. The exuberant palette of colours he employs is necessary to shake our perception awake for a moment. Nothing becomes larger than life, but rather brighter. It is like an invitation to see more than everyday objects, to look through the physicality and observe them the way the artist does, with astonishment, pleasure, compassion, and longing.