Art exposed from the perspective of the artist himself
Interview with painter Ramon Otting
The book ‘OIL & SOIL’, published by Ramon Otting, opens with the text;
“To Dutch painter Ramon Otting (1969), the landscape is a huge source of inspiration. The landscape reflects our moods, is enjoyable, can heal, or gives cause for contemplation. Otting’s work is all about nature and what it does to us human beings. This interaction is essential.” An artist so driven and inspired by nature is of course a very interesting discussion partner for Invisua. We traveled to his beautiful studio in Vinkeveen for an inspiring conversation about the effect of light on art. And to test that effect together, we carried our Masterspots to the attic where he works. While we talked, we experimented with the lighting of his works. We were amazed by the effect. A true feast for artist and lighting expert.
OIL & SOIL
Ramon Otting uses not only paint for his paintings, but also materials from nature. Nature is therefore not only his source of inspiration. He actually works with nature as an element in the creation of his works. For example, he works outside sitting in a vineyard, on the beach and even in the sea. The interaction with nature and the processing of natural materials in his work give it authenticity and prevent the work from becoming too neat.
Belle-Ile
Everything in Ramon Otting’s work is about light, growth, how nature shows itself. Since his childhood his great example has been Claude Monet. When he was young, he went to the Stedelijk Museum with his school. There he saw a small painting by Claude Monet, of a small island off the French coast called Belle-Ile. He was completely fascinated by that. Nobody captures nature and natural light as beautifully as Claude Monet.
Both 3000K
Left 3000K Right 6500K
Both 6500K
Left 6500K Right 3000K
The value of natural light
In his life, he has spent a lot of time painting in southern France. In the Provence, daylight is at its best. Fortunately, he has a large visual memory, so he can remember the beautiful light of Provence perfectly. Even when he works in his relatively dark atelier in the Netherlands. In his atelier Ramon prefers to work with artificial light, not to make it too perfect: “Working with less light is nice because you see more refined what you are doing. If you then look at your work in daylight, you’re really amazed by what you see. Then it comes to life. Outside you see so much more, then you actually see what you have made. Looking at my work outside is always a surprise, a gift. You would want everyone to be able to admire your work in the Mediterranean light. “
Playing with dynamic light
“When building an exhibition, the lighting is not always of the greatest importance. Sometimes there are restrictions based on the building or sometimes on the budget. And that is unfortunate, because beautiful lighting brings the artwork to life, it surprises and astonishes you. Then you see your work as you have never seen it yourself.” says Ramon. That the lighting of art can amaze you, we noticed when we were experimenting with the lighting of the works in the studio of Ramon, while talking. Just by playing with the color temperature of the white light we saw the balance between the colors change each time. With more warmth, the red tones in the flowers came out beautifully. While with cooler white light the blue tones in the flowers and the sky popped off the canvas. Sometimes it was like seeing the sun rise in the work. It seems like you tend to look more rationally at work with cooler light. While in warmer light you seem to be more likely to be touched by the work. That would be a nice approach for scientific research. We would be very curious about the results.
Lighting as part of the exhibition
Ramon says: “Ideally I would like to highlight all my works individually in an exhibition, to mimic the light in Provence. Then all works really come into their own. One work shows much more beautiful with cool light and the other with warmer light.” We also asked Ramon for a comment on the effect of Invisua’s dynamic LED light on his works; “It is magical what I see. Experimenting with dynamic light you get a result that you had not thought of at all. Suddenly the work gets a completely different appearance, I am seeing my own work completely different, again and again. Lighting your work in this way adds a lot, you actually make art with this. The light becomes part of your experience. Magnificent!”
