The old Oak and his friend the Dodecahedron are preparing for winter

Rombout Oomen

'The old Oak and his friend the Dodecahedron are preparing for winter'

The works of dutch artist Rombout Oomen may vary visually, the context and story of his images are always about his individual interests and personal view on depicting sociological, social and natural phenomena. Rombout’s works are basically visual storytelling. Stories inspired on our current society, but interpreted into a personal universe and realm. His works are bright and colourful with a clear extravert energy. They are individualistic pictures of how, according to him, the world at large and his inner world go around.

Rombout is trained in a Dutch manner, but the visual language is clearly northern European and contemporary expressionistic. Visually, the paintings are strongly inspired by several periods he lived in Germany. Over the years he has developed a personal technique and style for his figurative and narrative images.
He experiences painting as a spiritual journey towards a conclusion, which can’t be reached literally. Although a conclusion of a journey without an end is a contradiction, the narrative of this journey is being visualised in his paintings.

In 2018, out of a light-hearted interest in painting nature canvases, a number of small works were created with this garden as a source of inspiration.

'I was particularly struck by the unrelenting logic of the apparent chaos of light and dark, leaves and wood, shades of green and contrasting colours.

Working on nature canvases is a non-intellectual activity for me with in the end experiencing nature itself.

Paradoxically, this search and expression of pure energy and creative power, inspired by the garden, has its origin in the rational observation of inexorable natural compositions and logic, such as growth and entropy according to a mathematical order: the Fibonacci sequence, resulting in natural selection. 

The series evolves further and further, black holes make their appearance. A fascination with understanding the fundamental laws of nature and applying them visually according to an intuitive painting process is increasingly taking shape.

My father's garden path

This series is not only an ode to my father and his garden, but is also a liberating artistic investigation into nature as a subject and into its almost supernaturally beautiful compositions and lighting'.