WARNING

The content on this page deals with and depicts adult themes that people might find shocking. Such as: Addiction, depression, suicide, self-harm and loss.

These are all topics that are part of my life and that come with many of the good things that we as humans can experience. I explore these in my drawings in order to make such topics more accessible as part of my NEW HORIZON SERIES which focuses on mental health awareness and aims to support people with any struggles they might have regarding these topics. READ MORE

I do not mean to shock or disturb anyone with my work, please proceed with care.

Circle Project

Size:

  • 42cm (Height) x29.7cm (Width). Can be scaled up or down.

  • Also available in other formats.

  • For customization options please reach out.

Medium:

  • Poster, thick high-quality paper. Good for normal use or framing.

  • Print on Canvas

  • For special requests please reach out.

This page contains:

  • My Life in Circles - 2018.

  • Walking in Cirles - 2019.

  • Broken Circles - 2019.

  • Trapped in Circles - 2020.

  • Drowning in Circles - 2023.

  • Perspective of Circles - To Be Completed

The Circle project started as a way to explore my thoughts and dreams, each circle represents something that was on my mind at the time as I attempt to make sense of all of it and weave a story for myself. A method of self-reflection or meditation by visualising the thoughts inside my head in order to understand what it is I am experiencing.

These drawings are extremely personal as I explore what it means to be me. I deal with many different feelings such as love, loss, addiction, anxiety, safety, inspiration, aspirations and everything in between.

These pieces were created over the span of many years starting in 2018 and I am still adding to them. These drawings are my main way of self-reflection and contain no filters. When viewed together they show my emotional journey through the years.

I always try to explore philosophical topics in these drawings and add a surrealistic twist to them. I enjoy playing with perspective and blurring the lines between reality and the mindscape.

These drawings touch upon the full range of human emotions and that is the way I prefer it. The good and the bad are all part of life and we need them to help balance ourselves out and keep things meaningfully. Without any struggle, there would be no meaningful progress.

Introduction to the Circle Project.

The first piece was created by a 20-year-old Jan, who spent his days drawing and getting high in a coffee shop in Enschede, The Netherlands. This foolish boy was accompanied by the thoughts inside his head, cups of tea and a lot of weed.

At this time I was at the peak of my weed addiction and a few months away from seeking help and getting myself cleaned up. Aside from that, I was enjoying student life a lot and even managed to pass the first year of my new studies.

A lot of things happened leading up to the creation of these artworks. I had lost a loved one, went through a breakup, switched studies and experienced an insecurity about myself and my future I had never felt before.

In short, I was overwhelmed by emotions I was unable to process in a healthy manner and experienced a growing discontent with myself. I felt powerless, insecure, anxious and sad. This caused me to retreat within myself and to distance myself from the people that loved me.

I found solace in weed since it helped to silence the negative thoughts regarding my self-image and perceived failures. It also me me feel pleasantly numb and indifferent to everything. For months on end, I stagnated as life for me consisted of feeling like shit and then smoking and drinking to numb those feelings. Rinse and repeat. I lived in my own little bubble, my own little reality where everything was fine.

In my self-assigned isolation, I reached out to a friend from the past that I had seemingly forgotten about. This friend was my love for drawing and with a pencil in one hand and a joint in the other I sat down to visualise my feelings with the goal of self-reflection and finding a way forward. This was the turning point that brought me back to the land of the living.

Was spending 8-12 hours a day high of my mind in a coffee shop the healthiest way to sort myself out? No, but a the time it was the best I could do. I will not romantize this but I am proud of the steps I made back then. I had to hit the ground first before realising I needed to climb my way out of the mess I made.

My Life in Circles - 2018

My journey to understand myself started with me feeling small and insignificant but hopeful for the future nonetheless. That is what the centrepiece of the drawing signifies. The whale, a huge organism is indifferent to me and represents the aspects of life and fate that are beyond our control such as luck, disease, accidents, and opportunities.

With most of these things, we have no say in why, when or how they happen to us. What we can control is how we deal with such events. For me such events were the passing of my grandmother, a beautiful person with a kind heart. She loved elephants and thus she is represented by an elephant that