Top View, sliding by marks a turning point in my work and was awarded the Bernardine de Neeve Prijs 2024.

In Nijmegen, where I grew up, I would stand as a child on the Waal Bridge and watch the passing ships with fascination. I always wondered where they came from and where they were going. Years later I lived in Koblenz, at the point where the Moselle flows into the Rhine. There this perspective returned. Every day I crossed the bridge above the water that still connected me to my birthplace and made photographs of passing ships. This resulted in a series of highly abstracted images.

One of these images became the starting point for Top View, sliding by. In the work itself this origin is no longer visible. The images are dissected and reduced to a minimal set of lines, directions and proportions. What remains is not a representation but a construction.

In my earlier work the visual language was strictly horizontal. In this piece I break with that limitation by introducing vertical elements. This intervention not only changes the composition but also requires a reconsideration of the work’s relation to space. The suspension is not merely a technical detail but a direct consequence of this shift.

The composition is built from glass canes that are cut and arranged according to a self-imposed system. Within this structure I search for maximum reduction and precision. At the same time the work remains unstable. Through the interaction with light and position the image is in constant flux.

The work balances between control and movement. It originates from a concrete experience of looking and connection yet refuses recognition. What remains is an image that takes shape in the act of perception and simultaneously withdraws from it.

In Nijmegen, where I grew up, I would stand as a child on the Waal Bridge and watch the passing ships with fascination. I always wondered where they came from and where they were going. Years later I lived in Koblenz, at the point where the Moselle flows into the Rhine. There this perspective

Our day started quietly, and we decided to go for a motorcycle ride. We started at the bakery around the corner, where we got simit. Then we sped through the busy city traffic, zigzagging at high speed, which made me nervous because of the chaotic driving style and heavy traffic. Outside the city, the asphalt turned into a semi-paved road full of potholes, but Engin drove on without slowing down. As we climbed the highest mountain in the area, I had to surrender to the feeling of being unsafe. At the top of the mountain, we stopped for a moment to enjoy the view. When I started the downhill ride behind the wheel, I leaned into the corners as I was used to driving. After less than half a minute, I heard a high-pitched voice behind me say, ‘Florian, I’m scared.’ Engin wasn’t used to my riding style, which in my eyes is more controlled. I quickly pulled the motorcycle over to the side of the road and he continued on his drive. The realisation that everyone experiences the same thing differently and feels different fears has always stayed with me and forms the core of this work.

This work is part of my ‘cane paintings system’