Remko van Drongelen's (1969) virtuous paintings portraying ghostly androgynous human figures with their piercing gaze set against a dark background tempts the beholder to explore his inner feelings. He explains: "In my work I leave out all peculiarities that makes each person an individual".

During his study at the Willem de Kooning Academy in Rotterdam Van Drongelen collected photographs, photocopies and other images of everything that appealed to him. On his wall he used this images to create a sort of collage. This way a common denominator of his interests was exposed like death, late medieval and early Renaissancistic painting, Victorian photography, Elizabeth I...etc.

Vulnerability

Like the 'less is more' principle Van Drongelen leaves out all sorts of details to come closer to the essence of what he wants to show and because of this limitation it becomes stronger. He strives for a balance between the physical and emotional emptiness. Many faces have a blank expression as a starting point, that arises on the face of someone who has been confronted with the death of a loved one. That duality, with on the one hand the vulnerability but at the same time also the power that emanates from the characters, is what Van Drongelen seeks to present in his work.

Queen Elizabeth

A major influence on Van Drongelen's "style" is the Victorian photography of the 19th C. and in particular the work of the British autodidact Julia Margaret Cameron (1815-1879). At the time of Victorian photography models had to sit still in a pose for 20 minutes for a successful photo. This resulted in strikingly "empty" expressions because the muscles of their faces were sagged during their pose. A similar effect can be found in the portrait paintings of the early Renaissance in which the human figures, because of the lack of technique, often looked hollow-eyed and soulless.

Although certain elements in Van Drongelen's portraits are reminiscent to the Renaissance-era (the lace collar for instance), they are at the same time very distinguishing because of Van Drongelen's skilful way of transforming the reality to his will.

His choice to depict the figures in his paintings in an almost white skin tone is inspired by the portrait paintings that were made of Elizabeth I. When the British needed an emperor, who had to be presented as a deity above the people, Queen Elizabeth decided to put white face makeup on and was only portrayed in this manner.

Buddha

On average, Van Drongelen works for three months on a painting. After a detailed building up he partially overpaints details with transparent layers resulting in a pale but mostly thin, white and fragile skin. He doesn't work within the Western painting tradition using a narrative perspective to communicate a message or view. He rather tries to capture a mental or emotional experience: "Just addressing to stories about these experiences don't measure up to the total experience".

A character with an open expression seems to reveal everything but you (as the beholder) can not grap what is exposed, you are only a witness of the fact that the character opens himself. Van Drongelen: "Vulnerability implies power, nothing implies everything". When the beholder is confronted with a created vacuum he will project associations on this vacuum, like a Buddha statue with a neutral expression also invites the beholder to reflect his emotions. His intention is to seek a representation of an empty symbolism or a multitude against an emptiness.

Dedication

Due to his increasing knowledge of technique and anatomy Van Drongelen's fascination has not only expanded from the face to the rest of the body parts but also on the emphasis on the external visual elements and the actual background. His dedicated and meticulous working process (he destroys previous versions of the final painting) combined with his eloquent craftmanship makes him an artist to keep an eye on in the future.

No Title, 2011, oil on canvas, 33 1/5" x 37 2/5"