Painting has always been a passion since a very young age. Then in turbulent adolescent times it also became a sort of emotional refuge, as i sought solace and inspiration from the Fauvists and Impressionists, as well as from the profundity and mystery of the old masters.
After high school I wished to study art; instead I studied biochemistry at University, although in reality I spent more time painting than studying! I am mostly autodidact, but in high school I had painting lessons with Tony Lucchesi and Kevin Murray in Rome, and with Con Van Suchtelen in Toronto during University years.
Then I discovered Chiropractic which to me seemed like a perfect fusion of philosophy, science, art, and spirit, always dear to my heart. Working with and adjusting people seemed like a dynamic, live, sculptural art form, a synthesis of ideals and reality. Professional obligations and logistics meant less time to paint, though I have always known that sooner or later I would return more to painting.
The last two years (2020-2022) that has been rendered possible, and I feel that a lot of pent up emotions, thoughts and observations, both internal and external, are portrayed in the latest paintings.
Perhaps there is a thread of consistency in my paintings, though surely they are eclectic in nature, ranging from realist to surrealist, yet always with a calling to nature. Eclectic also perhaps because of my Canadian birth, Dutch heritage, and having lived most of my life in Italy.
At a young age I played with the idea of my own art movement – The Moodists – since we all do indeed experience different moods consistently. The nervous system is 80% sensorial and 20% motor, so inner sensations as well as external factors are always at work, or play!, and paintings reflect on these forces. And in the last two years (2020-2022) there have been many external forces influencing our lives, to which i reply in some paintings with a message, be it social, emotional, intellectual, or spiritual. If indeed it is said that the ‘medium is the message’ as per Marshall Mcluhen, I reply that the ‘message’ is and should be infinetely more precious and true than the medium. False messages can have bad repurcussions. Nobody has the absolute truth, as we are all here to learn, to discern, to understand the various internal and external forces.
That said, if my message has been clear, now I earnestly do wish to continue and improve my painterly medium or method. Therefore my art education continues; in a year I will see if I have learned more from my new Maestro (name withheld till next year!). If hitherto my paintings have almost all been from my imagination, now I wish to paint live, en plein air, to better appreciate and observe the subtleties of light, form, nature, and the mystery therein.
May the paintings speak for themselves!
Comments or enquiries are always welcome.
Peter Asselbergs, Msc DC
Bologna, IX 2022
