DANCING IN THE EMPTINESS

Artist Statement Eric Pijnaken The story began in April 2019 when he met the Portugese photographer Paulo Nozolino in a workshop in Arles, France. The title was : « Jusqu'à l 'os », which means « Down to the bone ». The theme appealed to him since his aim in photography is to reveal another reality within the reality surrounding us. As a matter of fact on that moment his project « Dancing in the Emptiness » has been born. It should be a series of 4 frame collages. The first four pictures have been exhibited during the annual photo festival « Les Rencontres de la photographie » in Arles. Afterwards his work deepened : he wanted to go further than « down to the bone » and arrive at the core of human being, even further than personality which is constructed after birth. His question : what has been man before birth, or after death ? Hence sprang the title « Dancing in the emptiness ». This emptiness, following him, is not void, but awareness and love. During a year he worked on the theme resulting into 21 collages; he got involved in a process in which he tried to avoid all superfluous information. It came as a big surprise that he discovered the talks with Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj, whose book « I Am That » is the best known. « Once you know that death happens to the body and not to you, you just watch your body falling off like a discarded garment ». His talks motivated him and were a great help in the composition and storytelling of the project. Eric Pijnaken was born in Rotterdam, Netherlands, and now he lives many years in South-French Ardèche. His works obtained many international awards.