walter dermul
"My work is figurative, usually about people and their emotions – or the lack of emotion. About how people communicate with each other – or struggle with the inability to communicate. Or about growing children: how they look for the light or how they turn away from it.
Most of my work is autobiographical. As an older man myself, I explore the twists and turns in my own life, the crossroads in which life takes shape. Often unconsciously and unintentionally, small or big moments have an indelible impact on everyone’s further life.
These are the moments that I want to capture."
"I have always been attracted to all things creative: poetry, literature, dance as well as painting and visual arts. But at an early age I chose a different path which led me to the marketing and advertising industry.
But gradually I started to wonder how my life would have turned out if I had chosen the other way at that crossroads long ago – and had gone for a creative/art career. That’s how the brushes and the canvas came into the house.
Today a lot has changed. The feeling that I’ve landed back at that split from then and that now I can start all over again, is something I gratefully and generously embrace. With the same enthusiasm and drive (and admittedly, with the same ambition) as in my earlier life, I am now working on a professional career as an art painter. To which destination it will take me is not yet entirely clear. But the road is certainly very fascinating.
walter dermul – °1953 – lives and works in Rijmenam"
Website:
Instagram: walterdermul
The answer, 90 x 60 cm, oil on linen, 2024
"This image to me is open for very different interpretations. Who is the woman at the window and why is she looking at the couple ? What is her relationship with the couple on the bench in the background? Is she an observer or a crucial 'third party' in what the couple are talking about? Why do they carry an umbrella on a clear day? "
When it's your brother, 70 x 70 cm, oil on linen, 2024
"The title refers to Bruce Springsteen's song "Highway Patrol Man"
("Now, ever since we was young kids / It's been the same comedown / I get a call on the shortwave / Frankie's in trouble downtown / Well, if it was any other man / I'd put him straight away / But when it's your brother / Sometimes you look the other way")
Two men (brothers?) have a lot to catch up for. They sit under an impressive authoritarian building symbolising the weight of their talks. But in the windows, a lighter more optimistic sky is reflected.
Bruce Springsteen"
Shelter, 100 x 80 cm, oil on linen, 2024
" A man and a young woman casually talking to each other. It is not clear whether they really know each other or did just meet. The metro station is a secluded but highly impersonal shelter from the outside world."
Outside your window, 60 x 80 cm, oil on linen, 2024
" A little boy behind a window. He stands looking a little anxiously at the outside world - the world where real life has yet to begin for him. Title and theme inspired by Tanita Tikaram's song “World outside your window" (1988)
"Tell me if you want to see / A world outside your window / A world outside your window isn't free / And tell me if you want to catch that feeling of redemption / That feeling of redemption doesn't do much for me"
We float, 100 x 80 cm, oil on linen, 2024
"PJ Harvey's song "We Float" tells the story behind this painting :
"This is kind of about you / This is kind of about me / We just kind of lost our way / We were looking to be free / But one day we'll float / Take life as it comes"