Interview
Elmer Kouwenberg
Elmer is a visual artist from Holland, and has been creating art for more than a decade. Over the years, he has specialized in psychedelic art, surrealism and pop art. Experimenting with colors and lines plays an important role in his creation.
Elmer’s background is quite different to that of most artists. When he was 24, which is about 25 years ago, he was involved in a violent car crash that made him almost completely paralyzed from the neck down. Almost. He was blessed that he still had function in his left bicep. With a brace to keep his wrist straight, Elmer learned that he could still express himself artistically, using current technology. He was able to work with a computer using a trackball, as well as a laser device controlled with his head to work on the fine details in his often oversized work.
But a computer alone is not enough. Many of his works start by making an interesting composition. Using the arms and hands of his nephew, Elmer puts together what he has in mind. After digitizing it, his work starts – behind the computer he combines the real-life composition with his inner world.
What is your background and how did you start your journey in the art world?
“I come from an artistic family; my mom made 3-dimensional wall hangings using all kinds of materials, so I was always in our ‘atelier’ drawing, painting, working with clay and so on.
When I finished high school, I enrolled in the well-known Dutch art academy ‘De Rietveld Academie’, but first my sister and I planned a trip to the USA after graduating from HAVO (Dutch high school). There the unexpected happened: I got into a severe car accident breaking my neck, ending up completely paralyzed except for my left bicep.
Back into the Netherlands I had to start all over again. In the rehab center I learned that I was able to control a PC, using a rollerball mouse and a head device to operate an adapted stand-up keyboard. This empowered me with new life energy – I could actually still make something of my life! It was the nineties and the Internet was hot. I taught myself programming and web development. Of course, I also 'dived' into the fantastic stuff you could do with drawing software. Actually, I had much more fun drawing and making art than programming, so about 14 years ago I decided to switch completely towards making art after people around me persuaded me to do so. Thankfully I did! There is nothing I like to do more than work on a piece of art.”
What inspires you most?
“I am a spiritual person, therefore I am inspired by spiritual writings, persons and happenings. I tend to go more for what comes from the heart than what comes from the analytic mind. When I was young, I was completely stuck in the wrong mind settings. I would say I was a very impulsive character with strong compulsive and obsessive behavior patterns. This made me an egoistic person. I cared too much about the projects I worked on without time for other people or things. It isolated me completely and it got me nowhere. For example, I totally missed the upbringing of my sister's children. When I began to realize that disconnection to my heart, her children were already grown up.
Something really changed in me when I got involved with spiritual gatherings and started reading spiritual books. People need each other. Connection with other people is one of the reasons for existence. The spirit is so much more valuable than the physical. The funny thing is that my pastime's obsessive behavior to become successful didn’t bring me anywhere, compared to the spiritual me that doesn’t care about getting rich and finding more success than I have before. It is not that I have anything against making money – I realize that I live in a far from easy situation and that money helps make life more comfortable.
What really makes me happy is starting a new artwork in the silence of the morning within reach of a nice cup of coffee.”
What themes do you pursue? Is there an underlying message in your work?
“I can not say there is an underlying message in my work. Neither do I pursue a particular theme. But I do like to make artwork that really gets your attention right away when you enter a room. To get there, I like to work with interesting, often bright color combinations, together with lining and shapes that play with your mind.”
How would you describe your work?
“I would like my artwork to be an exciting experience. Let alone the bright colors, the crazy shapes and lines, the large size and the shiny material (often acrylic glass) that it is printed on. Not to forget the use of LED lighting I use in some works.”
“It is my intention that you need more than a few minutes to let the artwork reach you, and that my artwork stays interesting, even after hanging for years on your wall.”
Which artists influence you most?
“The foremost artist that inspires me is Vincent van Gogh. We have the fabulous Van Gogh museum here in Amsterdam. I can't count the number of times I have visited this museum. His color use together with the somewhat psychedelic way of painting is very inspiring.
But also other artists like Hieronymus (Jerome) Bosch, Dali, Miró, Mondriaan, Warhol, Lichtenstein, Koons, and Haring just to name a few. ”
What is your creative process like?
“I prefer to get up early and then start working in the silence of morning with nobody around me. It is not so easy for me because I always depend on caretakers. But let's say when the early morning person is gone and I am all by myself, sitting behind my computer with a cup of coffee in close reach. Unfortunately I cannot do everything by myself so a few times a week my nephew helps me out, for example, with photographing and scanning material, gluing and spray painting, as well the work with LED lighting.”
What is an artist’s role in society and how do you see that evolving?
“Artists play a very important role in society. Why? To start off with, artists make art that entertains a huge amount of people. There is very popular art followed by millions of people – this kind of art stands on its own. Then there are artworks that are less or not popular, but nonetheless very important in that it has its own stage, even when there is not enough liquidity to stand on its own. I believe firmly in the government subsidizing these artforms. How boring would life be if we get only to see the most popular, or the artforms that bring in enough money? Artists that might be insignificant today could be the pearls of art a hundred years from now. But most importantly, all groups of society should be provided with the arts they like to be entertained with, popular or not.”
Have you had any noteworthy exhibitions you'd like to share?
“An exhibition that really sticks in my mind is the one in the rehab center I arrived in more than 30 years ago, completely paralyzed and scared as hell. It was good to come back to the place healthy and happy to be alive.”
