Veks Van Hillik: Absurd Logic
We asked Veks Van Hillik for the soundtrack to ABSURD LOGIC, his new fourteen-piece collection of paintings and works on paper. The album 鈥楾ribal Alliance,鈥� a collab by Mountain Realm and Tales Under the Oak, led us down a very strange rabbit hole of 鈥榙ungeon synth鈥� (a black metal spinoff that sounds like you think it would鈥攂ut better). 鈥淚t鈥檚 something I listened to a lot while painting this series,鈥� Veks told us. 鈥淚t feels both ancient and surreal, like a dreamstate in the woods.鈥�
The pairing makes total sense; ABSURD LOGIC is a droning yet romantic harmony of crumbling archways and half-lit corridors, chessboard courtyards and trapdoor altars. Inside, the characters are warped and insane. Motionless, they stare at you, their fins, wings and tentacles balanced and juggling the unlikeliest postures, while you search for the memory of your mind.
鈥淢adness, in the sense of 鈥榥on-normative鈥� or outsider thinking, is a recurring interest for me and my work. The 鈥榮tone of madness鈥� was a medieval belief鈥攑eople thought insanity came from a literal stone inside the head鈥攁nd balancing objects on spheres references the French expression 鈥榩edre la boule,鈥� to lose your marbles/lose your mind鈥ately, I鈥檝e been more and more drawn to compositions inspired by Flemish still life and vanitas painting. I love how still lifes are absurd by nature鈥攐bjects appear almost magically placed like visual theatre. While sketching, I began experimenting with odd arrangements鈥攑iling rocks and other objects, trying to balance them in improbable ways鈥攁nd that evolved into the structure of the series.鈥� - Veks Van Hillik
Veks鈥� homage to the Old Masters is immediately felt in the tone and depth of his work. His renderings embrace the dramatic lighting and theatricality of baroque tradition with atmospheric backgrounds and rich yet gloomy colors. To enhance the effect, Veks works the surface of his canvases to mimic the textural cracking and char-like scarring one might see in ancient oil paintings, weathered by time. These moves make Veks鈥� work feel like ancient tomes of newly-discovered, long-forgotten truths. They present surrealism as paramount and carry the weight of memory, myth, and unbridled imagination with their ABSURD LOGIC.
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We asked Veks Van Hillik for the soundtrack to ABSURD LOGIC, his new fourteen-piece collection of paintings and works on paper. The album 鈥楾ribal Alliance,鈥� a collab by Mountain Realm and Tales Under the Oak, led us down a very strange rabbit hole of 鈥榙ungeon synth鈥� (a black metal spinoff that sounds like you think it would鈥攂ut better). 鈥淚t鈥檚 something I listened to a lot while painting this series,鈥� Veks told us. 鈥淚t feels both ancient and surreal, like a dreamstate in the woods.鈥�
The pairing makes total sense; ABSURD LOGIC is a droning yet romantic harmony of crumbling archways and half-lit corridors, chessboard courtyards and trapdoor altars. Inside, the characters are warped and insane. Motionless, they stare at you, their fins, wings and tentacles balanced and juggling the unlikeliest postures, while you search for the memory of your mind.
鈥淢adness, in the sense of 鈥榥on-normative鈥� or outsider thinking, is a recurring interest for me and my work. The 鈥榮tone of madness鈥� was a medieval belief鈥攑eople thought insanity came from a literal stone inside the head鈥攁nd balancing objects on spheres references the French expression 鈥榩edre la boule,鈥� to lose your marbles/lose your mind鈥ately, I鈥檝e been more and more drawn to compositions inspired by Flemish still life and vanitas painting. I love how still lifes are absurd by nature鈥攐bjects appear almost magically placed like visual theatre. While sketching, I began experimenting with odd arrangements鈥攑iling rocks and other objects, trying to balance them in improbable ways鈥攁nd that evolved into the structure of the series.鈥� - Veks Van Hillik
Veks鈥� homage to the Old Masters is immediately felt in the tone and depth of his work. His renderings embrace the dramatic lighting and theatricality of baroque tradition with atmospheric backgrounds and rich yet gloomy colors. To enhance the effect, Veks works the surface of his canvases to mimic the textural cracking and char-like scarring one might see in ancient oil paintings, weathered by time. These moves make Veks鈥� work feel like ancient tomes of newly-discovered, long-forgotten truths. They present surrealism as paramount and carry the weight of memory, myth, and unbridled imagination with their ABSURD LOGIC.
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