Etienne (Dutch, 1966) is a self-taught artist whose background as a physicist and 28-year career as executive in the global corporate world provide him both an interesting counterpoint as well as boundless inspiration for his art works. After a period of many years living and working in many countries, Etienne dropped his anchor in Singapore when he became a Permanent Resident in 2006. Etienne’s artist name “Tjen” is the name his family and his closest friends call him from young, and this perspective creates room for his artistic alter ego. As a lefthander, he regularly feels the urge to let loose his creative spirits unto various media and with various techniques.
Tjen’s art philosophy focuses on capturing, transferring and evoking emotions into his work. He draws his spectators into a private and intimate world where spontaneity, honesty, creativity and humor are blended unto paper and canvas. Tjen compares the creation and sharing of his work to inviting close friends over to a home-cooked dinner. He says: “In inviting dear friends, you have to be your true self and your creations have to be prepared with care, be nourishing for the soul and arouse emotions that you dare and desire to share in good company”.
Tjen is inspired by many artists and art streams as he looks at the world as someone who wants to understand everything with compassion. However, three artists appear to stand out: Dali, Hieronymus (Jeroen) Bosch and Paul Wunderlich, as the ones that made a deep impression on Tjen already in his early life. Tjen’s work strives to capture the detailed dream world, symbolism and sensuality of these great artists. He plays with techniques bending realism to his will to lure his audience into his world. Many ‘hidden’ details, deeper meanings and little jokes keep them captivated and intrigued.
Furthermore, Tjen is a ‘private poet’ with more than 200 (as yet unpublished) poems to his name, so you are likely to find a poem to go with his painting.