Jan Westerhof

Jan Westerhof creates art that speaks of inner being.  He achieves this via work on paper in acrylics, pastels, and other media that seems to be etchings on the surface of life, adumbrations of objects and pure phenomena that are meant more to indicate and evoke than literally depict.  There is something in Westerhof’s technique reminiscent of carving in the bark of a tree and how a multifaceted object can be represented through a conservation of energy, imparting more with less.  Westerhof tends to see life as a process of transformation—and transformation is never static, but always active and alive.  Such is the logic that informs his compositional energy, which never feels burdened down by the heaviness of detail that can register when an object has settled into a state of quasi-permanence.  The colorings Westerhof’s chooses are deceptive, as his intentionally muted hues will give way to luminescence just when it is least expected.

Westerhof’s is a native of the Netherlands, where he applies his talents not only to artistic creation but also in his work as a drawing therapist. Jan Westerhof invites the viewer to join him on “An Outer Journey to the Inner Light."