About this work

“The faster we move the less we see the details”  “We see our lives in frames per second”

Riaan hurls and pours old car oil, effectively slowing time and capturing it with a mix of charcoal and paint on different surfaces. The static images vibrate with movement.

Exploring and deepening his own impressions and comprehension, Riaan van Zyl searches for and takes inspiration from ordinary things around him. He deconstructs commonplace ideas and he loves re-imagining it with experimental media – old car oil, captured Carbon, anthracite, cobalt salts, Ink from exhaust fumes, etc. Riaan dissects movement and reconstructs their context and value with patient eyes and a hungry mind. He is diacritical.

While at first glance his work might seem abstract and confusing, Riaan focuses on challenging the viewer to see everyday things in a different light. Let your eyes slow down with his images, arresting the motion the same way a film played in slow motion would. The outcome has its own, very personal structure, punctuating movement through composition.

Not unlike his work Riaan has taken time and tirelessly experimented to define his unique and expressive style. He is currently playing with the concept (entertaining the concept, working on the concept) of interactivity through expressive cooperation and its moving parts. He is testing a new way to traverse and step beyond the contemporary frontiers, options that are offered by unique media.

Riaan exhibits internationally and locally. His works feature in prestigious art collections around the world.