Here I Was Happy

Marcel Kerkhoff’s diminutive paintings involve constructed narratives placed
within isolated interior spaces. In his new exhibition, I was a wave when I crashed, continues this exploration, creating both whimsical nostalgia and an eerie sense of voyeurism.

“My current work gives focus to paintings of interiors. In particular, the imagined
paintings exhibited within those interiors. In a very matter of fact manner, animals, animal characters, fairy-tale characters and pop culture icons all hang on equal ground, allowing the viewer to conjure up narratives from subtle suggestions. These interiors become sites of possibilities where connections between events and places could be discovered.

There is a contrast between the extent of detail and the emptiness present in these interiors, and although seemingly devoid of life, through the stillness
permeates a connecting force between the subjects on the walls of each interior.

There is something poetic, intimate and precious about small scale work with a
particular level of handcrafted detail. It draws one in, seductively forcing engagement, causing the eye to focus yet meander. In a sense, these interiors
are used to moderate and regulate a collection of thoughts reflecting the importance, significance and insignificance of things. Accepting that all of
our belongings and ideas become a part of something else, in its isolation we
are left with traces of life.”