Erik Mattijssen uses an unusual technique, a technique that seems to reinforce ‘the content’. From a distance, the works look like paintings. Perhaps just on paper, but nonetheless. Consistent as he is, Mattijssen uses the you-don’t-see-what-you-see principle in his forms. Overlapping layers of pastel crayon merely suggest paint - a confusion that is magnified by the artist’s use of gouache techniques here and there, and the odd brushstroke. This may work to heighten a specific visual effect, or to add variety. The artist’s use of pastel crayon strengthens the concept of transparency. His passages of colour are never dense and flat. The multi-interpretable content is reflected in Mattijssen’s open translation of form. A logic suggests itself. Another striking technical element is the artist’s seeming lack of finesse, a certain heavy-handedness. Sometimes, for no apparent reason, multiple perspectives crop up. Light sometimes throws an inevitable shadow, but not always. Rooms don’t always have the correct depth - fabrics don’t always hang naturally. This seeming clumsiness, however, works to underline Mattijssen’s manipulation of reality while also giving the emotional charge of the stories extra depth, extra poignancy. In the way that human imperfection can be poignant. Just as childish awkwardness can be touching.
Erik Mattijssen | Time Value | 2008 Pencil and pastel on paper | 196 x 269 cm | Courtesy of Metis-NL, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
