Studio Jelle Rietveld

Process

The emotions, thoughts and impulses from daily life are the essence of my work. With my photography, I translate these to an abstract artwork. The thought, the feeling, the idea comes to the fore, but the image sometimes makes the viewer question: it makes you think, turn inwards, asks you to look, then look at it again. Over and over. I build objects of various materials, composing with colour, structure, lines, light and shadow to depict the core of emotions, thoughts and impulses. Only when you take a second or third look at my work do you sometimes see that you are looking at a photo. A photo of the deeper reality, not of the superficial.

Scroll down for more detailled information about my process

Sketching phase

I translate the research into a sketch. During the sketching process, I involve people around me and talk to them about the topic. After all, we’re all experts of our emotional life and experiences in love. Many people in our society, including those around me, are dealing with stress.

During this sketching phase, I decide what colors I want to use to best express the emotion of the image – light or dark, calm or powerful. The colors need to express and strenghten the idea for the artwork. For me working with colors is something I trust on my intuition. In “Seven – Stimuli” for example, I use five colors that mark and support the process of moving from stress and a feeling of little space to calm and plenty of space.

Building the object

Using the sketch as a guide, I start constructing an object with a variety of materials such as paper, stone, plaster, wood, paint, metal and many other materials – materials that leave room for interpretation in the final image. Everything what is needed to strenghten the philosophy of the artwork.

One of the last steps in the process is making the compositions and adding light and shadows to the object. The light play I create reinforce the emotion I want to express. In “Seven – When,” for example, the shadow of the wave threatening to overturn is much more threatening than the actual wave.

Editing

In the final stage, I bring together the different photographs in Photoshop, where I edit and abstract them into the final image. I keep the structure of the objects recognizable, to leave room for interpretation.

It’s important to make test prints on scale to see the details and to check if the colors on paper are how I want them to be. The final image is printed on a material that suits the story best – plexiglas, matte or glossy or sometimes printed directly on plexiglass so that natural light also takes on its role again.

People are allowed to see and feel whatever the artworks trigger in them. Sometimes I learn from talking about it and sometimes I get new insights about the artworks. The biggest compliments for me are that people open up and show their vulnerability by sharing their personal stories.