Eelke van Willegen (1974) creates art of great simplicity. Artless, natural, still and without further ado. The artist is like a surfer. Surfing is fun. But surfing is also about reaching inner tranquillity. Reading the wave. Knowing the water. The flight is a perfect union of body, water, wind and sky. Tasting the salt scum on your lips. Surfing, plain and simple. But appearances may be deceiving; on closer inspection, his work proves to be complex and carefully thought-out. The form is guided by action. Like the ocean-floor moulds the wave and shapes it according to the tides.

Eelke captures the visible world in either a simple drawing or a three-dimensional work of art. Powerful essentials. Neither easily accomplished, nor easily spot. The viewer will have to read the work like the surfer reads the water. But, for anyone who takes the trouble to look carefully, there will be much to see. It’s as simple as that.

Not easy, yet very forceful. And the sea, the sea…