Rik Smits
/ Dutch Artist
2017 - Present / The symbolic themes that are incorporated in my full color pencil drawings deal with the process of humans undertaking an existential journey which leads towards finding spiritual and emotional enlightenment. The main focus of this journey lays more on the process itself than on the final goal. While engaging in this adventure which has the purpose of becoming the best possible version of ourselves, we have to undergo many psychological changes and expose ourselves to possible dangers. It is our inevitable vulnerability and the courage it takes to show this that is the most significant factor in the images of my drawings. When we are in a vulnerable state and when we are willing to accept this, only then the human soul is most open to a possible metamorphosis that allows us to change and strengthen our character, so that it will give us the necessary tools to engage in the mystery of life. A mystery that unfolds a duality between love and hate, safety and danger, selfism and altruism, all the possible emotions within the spectrum of the human soul which are purposely integrated in our collective unconscious, so that we are able to survive. But what we actually want in life is to exceed our mere survival by aiming for higher moral values and standards that will bring us a more profound and meaningful existence.
2008 - 2016 / My work deals with the relation between religion and capitalism, which is depicted in a scenery of architectural landscapes/cityscapes. These landscapes show the contours of an imaginary city. A city which breathes the human ambition towards power and status. Its large scale buildings reminds us of the industrial utopia’s which prevailed in the human mind, but failed to shine or provide peace and humanity in the real world.The most prominent facet of this city is perhaps its appearance, from which one can easily read that the main ideology of its inhabitants is Capitalism. But this ideology is beginning to manifest itself in a religious manner, and will maybe even become a religion itself. And in a way that it will be seen as a redeemer. The city shows the self-confidence of an utopia but also the emptiness of a deserted ruin. The over towering Art Deco skyscrapers stand proud like medieval cathedrals, their decoration reminds us of the rich symbolism of the early Christian art, with all its references to spiritual suppression and revelation. The skyscrapers cast their shadow over desolate and damaged monuments which represent the lost moral standards and values of humanity, which have been exchanged for the never-ending spiritual search for capitalist redemption, which provides us with the luxury and convenience of modern day life.
