While the Dutch artist Sidney Waerts (1976) concentrated in his previous work on the negative effects of progress, technology and our increasingly faster consumer society to which he tried to relate, in his new series he takes a different, more optimistic tack. Instead of focusing on the outside world, the process of changing his inner world is now central. This change is not only related to the desire for inner peace, but is also the only path to self-healing.

For years, the city of Sidney Waerts has provided plenty of inspiration and material. However, the ground under his feet is changing and this new series is the result of that. Outside the city, the artist did not necessarily have to continue living at the same pace. Inspired by the Japanese technique of Zen painting (Sumi-e), in which simplicity and spontaneity are crucial, Sidney Waerts looks for peace in nature in his recent series. The logic of the seasons, the rhythm of a day, the growth of plants and trees – there are no limits to the development of natural things. A tree that has been cut down finds its way back somehow in some other form. In wild nature, a pure way of life can be experienced, which logically includes birth and death. Also an essential part for Sidney to grow as an artist. To accept the transience of form.

In Sidney’s work, these natural forms are expressed because the artist focuses less on photorealism and more on abstraction and impulsiveness. Acrylic paint and spray cans, which Sidney Waerts used in his earlier work, make way for Oriental ink. This material offers new possibilities and gives the work a softer character, instead of the hard and high-contrast black and white from his previous series. The result of the work process is also different and more unpredictable. Brush strokes and shapes take on a life of their own and provide beautiful surprises along the way. Only this way authenticity can grow and that is currently the only way Sidney follows.