Red Bouncy Ball
40×50 cm, guache on canvas, 2014
private collection

A fascination for the Bouncy Ball and more generally the projectile begins when the Red Bouncy Ball comes to rest at his feet. Upon picking it up he is struck with the urge to document this thing in paint. What follows is an intention to render these balls flat, iconic, and scaleless thereby allowing the viewer to focus on the individual surface compositions of the balls while leaving room for interpretation and meaning.

Big Blue Bouncy Ball
80×100 cm, guache on canvas, 2015
private collection

The identity of a projectile is derived from the fleeting moment in which it is put to use, and by definition into motion. In the Bouncy Ball series, the individual balls are displayed as isolated circles of colours, thus achieving a focused, monolithic state. The palette, based largely on primaries, is a faithful reproduction of the colours given to these rubber balls at the time of their manufacturing and fit the playful subject well. As with all of Pieter’s recent paintings, ambiguity is achieved by controlling the way in which the object is portrayed. It is literally a bouncy ball, but can be seen as something else.

The fascination for the projectile is continued most directly in the Slug series.

White Bouncy Ball
40×50 cm, guache on canvas, 2015
private collection

This series marks Pieter’s return to painting

Yellow-Green Bouncy Ball with Ground
55×95 cm, guache on canvas, 2016

Checkered Bouncy Ball
40×50 cm, guache on canvas, 2015
private collection

Pink and Blue Bouncy Ball
40×50 cm, guache on canvas, 2014
private collection