Jan Huijbers is a full time artist living in Taranaki. He migrated to Aotearoa in 1983 from the
Netherlands. Since arriving Jan has adopted pacific influences and is continually developing his own insights and
interpretation of these.
In Jan's own words he describes "the meaning of "Ocean Script" is to make the viewer aware of the well being of the ocean.
For me the ocean is the most beautiful thing in the world with all its blue and purity. Nowhere else are the colours so
beautiful as here in the Pacific, but these colours are fading as well as its creatures. The ocean doesn't have the power
to stop the abuse and attack from human activity. Its spirit is enclosed in my art, to remind us to make a connection to
and respect, it. Restoring this respect will give us both the right to live; destruction will end both worlds."
For several years Jan has painted shells because he was attracted to their brilliant colours and structures. After studying
and painting shells he began to focus on the pattern of colour and design inherent on the shell's surface.
Jan has concentrated on transforming these patterns into an art form. What you see in his works, in particular within the
black and white studies of shell patterns, is an extremely balanced separation of positive and negative space. | |
