The final painting I created in Xalapa Mexico. 2020 90x70 cm, oils on canvas.

A study of subject matter and color use I started on dia de muertos in Mexico.
There were no public altars this year so I decided to paint one myself.
Aesthetically the yellow wall on the top right looks a bit off, the purpose was to display an over exposed wall of a cheaply lit Mexican living or dining room where one can find sometimes plastic chairs but people still cherish life, this is where often the smaller personal family altar can be found close-by too.
Now working with oils I’ll explore more stories in my work compared to the “aesthetically pleasing” things Ive made the past few years.
An occurring theme in this work is celebration and the passing of things. During this year I feel like we are in a way more connected than ever before because changes of life have affected us all in a way similarly.
In the back I have 3 flags, the left of Haïti, where my dad is from, the center the dutch flag, where I was born, on the right the Mexican flag where I currently am and have grown a lot into the person I am right now.
It’s all personal but hell what isn’t and it started as a study.
Left it shows some field in Spain where ill move to in a few weeks and right of it a window to a NYC skyline where I had planned to go to earlier this year.
Turn on the news of any of these places and we are all connected though experience.
The altar I found suiting for the symbolic idea of not just death but also coming and going(passing) of plans and ideas.