This series of paintings is based on distant observations of people standing and waiting on a concrete diving platform off the coast of Rhodes. Suspended against the sky and positioned just above the horizon line, the figures appear caught between stillness and action, anticipation and apprehension. The paintings focus on a moment of pause within a structure designed for movement. The diving platform becomes a threshold space where movement is held in time and the body occupies an ambiguous position between agency and suspension. Working with distance, focus, and scale, I have deliberately introduced uncertainty into the image. The figures are partially abstracted, fragmented by light and atmosphere, resisting fixed interpretation. In this way, I consider the body not as a stable entity but as something contingent and relational, shaped through its interaction with environment, perception, and systems of observation. The paintings invite the viewer to reflect on the instability of looking and on the productive possibilities that emerge when action is deferred and resolution remains incomplete.
Bathers, oil on board, 70 x 50cm
Laura van Tatenhove 