Happening To Life

'If you want to be truly unrestrained then renounce the self, the influences – be brave.'

Hans has reached a position where he feels whole as an artist, confident in his purpose and direction. He produces his works as something more than himself, piecing together existentialist art made from the fragments of his journey.

He works for the sake of art, for himself, and for the beauty and simplicity brought by the act of creation. Hans shows his interpretation of the world, mirrored in his gallery of reflections. He has experienced, learned, and pushed through confusion to reach a point where his art is truly his own.

'Your art isn’t you. You are the ground in which the grass grows.'

The process Hans goes through to formulate his concepts doesn’t start with himself, with his ego and identity attached – it begins with a moment of introspection. He blocks his mind of insecurities, of positive affirmations, and gives himself a ten second window in which to plant an idea.

After the initial thought he lets it grow, following intuitively on the path that feels right. He asks himself the question: “Would I still paint this if no one was going to see it?” If the answer is yes, he continues on, pulling all of his skills together to make something profound.

'The extreme sport of art.'

As an experienced tattooist, Hans is used to dealing with constraints. Pain and blood are ever-present, and everything is under external client pressures of time and expectations. His art contrasts that, gathering his skills into a place where he can be free.

Hans’ art isn’t an expression of self – it is the realisation of it. He has spent a lifetime on art, creating commercially since the early 2000s. A classically trained painter, Hans has ticked the boxes of all the styles and is taking the next step to bring it all together.