“Kids inspire me. Their ability to transcend any given rotten situation is astounding. Playing tag in the ruins of a bombed Syrian city. Playing football in the most miserable neighborhoods. They are always looking for the light. They will save the future that our generations have really messed up, not even blaming us for it. If we only could keep the kid in ourselves a bit more, we wouldn’t be in such a mess. Art can help us to re-find our childlike innocence.

I assemble original photography, assorted papers, acrylics, oil, charcoal, ink, and pencil in my works. The variety of resources I am able to use has proved indispensable to me. The biggest challenge the collage medium posed was its unforgiving lack of transparency. Finding a way to replicate the effects of transparency afforded by paint, especially watercolors, was a large victory for me. The preparing labor shows through in my collages; layer upon layer of material remains visible in the finished pieces. I believe my body of work is characterized by my skill for reinvention. Having always loved the appearance of weathered walls plastered with peeling paint and old posters, I revive this aesthetic with hopefully a keen and professional eye. The creative objective of my work is to “make something beautiful out of dilapidation.” My tableaus explore the dissonance between old and new materials, intertwined in the most beautiful way possible to create dreamlike and melancholy images.”

DB WATERMAN

SELECTION OF RECENT YEARS EXHIBITIONS AND EVENTS

Art Eindhoven, Klokgebouw Eindhoven, The Netherlands
Finalist in the Climate Change Art Prize with Octopus Energy, Portraits from the Precipice. (Royal Academy of Art).
International collage exhibition – The EMR Museum- France
Octopus' Energy's billboard exhibition / 2500 Locations London, United Kingdom
Affordable Art Fair - New York City, USA
Muriel Guepin Gallery, Soho, New York, USA
International collage exhibition – The EMR Museum- France
De Galerie Den Haag, The Hague, The Netherlands
Business Art Service Nederland BV - Raamsdonksveer, The Netherlands
100 Days of Dutch Art, iShen Gallery, New Zealand