knowing how to look is a way of inventing - salvador dalí
When I write this blog I am staying at Mas can Galan. A beautiful place in the French part of Pais Catalan. When I look in front of me I see the Spanish Pyrenees, behind me the French. Half in France, half in Spain. At least that's how it feels. The best of both worlds together. And here from the terrace the longing for Spain is rekindled.
A visit to Spanish Catalonia is inevitable: after a few years I am back in my beloved Spain. A country that has been able to touch me deep in my soul for ages. Immediately I feel at home again, an intense and emotional re-experience of coming home and a deep knowledge that I want to be here.
That deep knowing is a wondrous thing. You can rely on that, I was once told. As a notorious doubter, I found that hard to believe at the time. But if it presents itself, then all doubt is gone, I now notice again and I know from previous experiences. Spain is deep in my heart, in my soul. It is my second homeland.
It is wonderful to experience that deep knowing. And I realise that the experience can only be so intense if the experience with doubts is also there. Doubts always turn out to be justified doubts. They keep me on my toes, protect me from something, challenge me to investigate and to look for in a different way. Without doubt, there is no progress.
With my images and the way I live, I discover who I am essentially. Both take me one step further. In my work I represent what touches and occupies me. While making the images, the story I want to tell becomes more and more clear. We walk together, you might say, at a slow pace. Taking time is also the common thread in the way I live. After all, by taking the time I will see more and look differently. This is also the case here at Mas can Galan. I'm here for 4 weeks, the base is here and from this place, as a matter of course, I explore where I want to be, what I want to do and where I want to focus on. Taking the time makes the experience more intense. Taking the time creates space, in my head and in my heart.
Back to Spain! It's great to be there again. Sometimes you have to leave a place, to know where you are at home, what you have to do and to get one step closer to who you really are. An ongoing project...
My visit to Fiqueres and Cadaqués contribute to this. Both are the home base of Salvador Dalí, the 'architect' of the imagination. His incredibly inspiring creations lie on the border between reality and imagination and invite you to actually look, because knowing how to look is a way of inventing. How? By taking the time to look at art and thereby research how to look and what touches you.
With the image below I depict my experience of looking at Dalí's works.
Trude
Zo mooi
Zo ontroerend waar
Zo dichtbij
Zo ook het beeld
Zo sereen als je bent