Mixed Media on Linen, 2023, 200 x 140 CM

Layered Portrait on Large Scale: Color, Stillness, and Inner Depth
This monumental painting of 200 x 140 cm presents a striking, enigmatic head rendered in a dense layering of color and form. Beneath the surface lies a vibrant palette, blues, ochres, reds, greens, as though the face has been built from within, emotion layered upon memory, gesture upon gesture. A veil of deep black is placed over this colorful base: not to conceal, but to concentrate. The black overlay pushes the figure inward, imbuing the portrait with silence, tension, and quiet intensity. The background consists of softly blended horizontal fields in sand, grey, and white a horizon that provides space and calm in contrast to the density of the head. This atmospheric backdrop offers depth without perspective, allowing the figure to hover between grounded stillness and psychological openness. The work invites recognition and abstraction simultaneously, refusing a single narrative and instead offering room for contemplation. Mart Visser approaches painting physically and intuitively, guided by process, texture, and emotion. His signature is unmistakable in this work: a layered construction of presence, the contrast between expression and restraint, and the elevation of imperfection into visual strength. Paint is not only applied, but also removed, scratched, or worn down, every mark becomes part of the image’s memory. The result is a portrait that doesn’t depict, but evokes.

Presence and Stillness Within Space
This work does not demand attention it holds it. Rather than decorating a room, it shapes the atmosphere. Its presence is essential rather than overpowering. In spaces with natural tones, stone, linen, or wood, the painting acts as an anchor: slowing the pace, drawing the gaze inward. Not to be understood, but to be felt.