Dreams within Dreams

Info

These are the drawings I, Rien Doorn, made since 1976. Each drawing has a short description about how it has been created, what inspired me etc.

Geschiedenis

I started drawing when I was 16 or so. I was mainly inspired by a cousin of mine who is 10 years older and had studied arts. I just admired what he did and decided to do something similar. This cousin also took me to an exhibition of Salvador Dali in Rotterdam and I was completely blown away by what I saw there. I can still see some of those immensely impressive paintings as they were displayed and as you may notice, Dali's style appealed to me, a lot.

Before I started drawing seriously I remember having won a prize at the age of 12 at a school exhibition. I seem to remember standing there and overhearing one of the viewers saying that they didn't understand why I had won a prize (they didn't know it was me) because the drawing was 'all wrong'.

I never have been inclined to study arts or to take lessons. I just wanted to draw and that's what I did. Only my friends and family ever saw them and many of my early work has disappeared because I gave it away.

My inspiration came (and still comes) from the things around me. An ordinary object can be the beginning of a drawing and then it will start a if of its own and morph into something completely different. Sometimes it's not even an object but just a doodle, a shape that is just pleasant to look at. However, besides Dali there is another artist that inspires me a lot, M.C. Escher. A fellow Dutchman who is famous for his graphical work and his optical illusions and impossible objects. You will find these back in my drawings regularly.

You may notice that all my drawings a called 'Untitled' with a number. I do not publish the names I have for my drawings. The reason for this is that I really would want the viewer to give their own name to my drawings, not being influenced by the name I have chosen.

I sincerely believe that every piece of art lives its own life. Once the creator has given birth to it every single person who views to piece of art adds meaning to its existence. This is how art grows and matures yet each individual viewer can only see what they perceive. Hence it's useless to discuss art, every piece of art has a different meaning to every person seeing it!!

I hardly ever start a drawing with an end result in mind. I usually begin with an idea which then evolves during the process. Other ideas pop up automatically, I inspire myself with what I create and slowly but surely it becomes something of which even I very often have no idea where it comes from