Embracing the Infinite: Exploring Art Beyond Boundaries

Samuel Vanderveken taks about his work:

My art practice encompasses various forms of expression, including drawing, painting, sculpture, and installations.

Since my studies in painting at LUCA School of Arts, Ghent, the quest for the "universal" has nourished my practice.

More specifically, I explore the relationship of the enquiring human mind within a silent universe, and the accompanying fascination for this universe.

During a certain period, I found resonance with this inquiry in Albert Camus' "The Myth of Sisyphus" and absurdist philosophy.

In recent years, stemming from my yoga and subsequent meditative practice, my work has been nourished by Hindu (Kashmir Shaivism) and Buddhist (Mahayana, Theravada) philosophies.

For a recent study, leading to an Educational Master's degree, I wrote a thesis on the concept of "emptiness" (śūnyatā, Siva).

My preliminary conclusion was that "emptiness" equals "uncontrolled, limitless freedom."

A space where nothing exists, everything can become, but nothing needs to be; it represents a space where nothing (yet) exists but where everything is possible without any limitation.

In practice, this translates into works that attempt to surpass/transcend the boundaries of what is possible.

With this, I aim to stimulate consideration in the viewer and invite them to be amazed once again by the reality they know.

As an artist, I constantly strive to challenge myself, explore new possibilities, and cultivate a sense of wonder.

I invite the viewer to explore together with me the reality that is often taken for granted.

My hope is to inspire and encourage the viewer, in complete freedom, to (re)discover the diversity and limitless possibilities of life. 

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Images and text courtesy the artist

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Images on view below:

Caption 1: Consiousness nearing entropy | 50 x 40 x 3,5 cm | Painting on sculpted wood: red fir 

Caption 2: Non-Dualism | 133 x 94 x 2 cm | Painting on plywood and sculpted wooden frame: red fir