Ruud Van Empel

I live very much inside my head. In there, I can create my own phastasmagoric realities, a universe vibrant with life, void of strife. Emancipation was the only reason I paid little attention in class. Yet, as I aged, I gradually, unbeknownst to even myself, physical realities grounded my hypothetical possibilities. I did not daydream as much. Instead, my mental capacity reeled over the burden of adulthood. Now, as I approach my late twenties, I rarely daydream at all. I no longer talk to my imaginary friends, I no longer hear a narrator in my head… Seeing Ruud Van Empel’s work today really reminded me of that innate creativity in all children, that life that I have faint recollections of now…

“Van Empel’s scenes are filled with ravishingly vivid colors, and dreamlike shifts of scale and space. Kids appear in their Sunday best or stripped down to shorts. He often photographs their heads, arms, legs, and outfits separately, giving many of them a doll-like appearance. He has a terrific eye for details that make the scenes pop, like a violet flower in a tangle of green foliage… On the one hand, the scenes are like mini-Edens, pure and holy; on the other, they call forth stereotypes of Aryan princesses and primitive jungle tribes. It’s dangerous, electric territory.” (Greg Cook)

“[The picture above] is inspired by one of my own childhood photographs. When I was a kid I had to wear a suit with a tie and short trousers. I was supposed to look like a young gentleman but of course I only wanted to play wildly in the gardens and fields around our house. So it is funny to see a young boy all dressed up in a suit, and I translated this to dark children in tropical forest. In detail you can see a marking on his left knee, there is a little wound from playing to wildly but for the rest he is looking as a perfect example of a nice and good child.”

“Coincindence is very important in making collages, I photograph all kinds off things, just following my fascinations, later these photo’s happen to come together in one collage. Sometimes it takes years for a photo to get into my collages, lots of photo’s I take never get in. I use the computer to make my photo-collages, but the collages are made by hand… I don’t let the software make the artistic decisions; I… use the sissors and glue, digitally.”