This video by Seet van Hout is the thirty-fourth video in the OPEN UP series where artists from the AkzoNobel Art Collection show what they are working on in these turbulent COVID-19 times.
Since the 16th of March (since the intelligent lockdown in the Netherlands), Seet has made one small painting a day. It helped her to get a daily rhythm and it gave her a sense of meaning and happiness in times of lockdown. Creativity is a blessing in disguise in these COVID-19 times. Seet is interested in “what is in our mind”: in what role memory plays in the manual preparation of a painting and in the repetition of an act. Despite the playful initial impression of her work, she observes strict rules when creating her paintings. No brushes are used, and the paint is only allowed to make contact with the canvas in a particular way and according to a set pattern. Within those constraints, the artist gives free rein to the creative process, hoping to hit entirely by accident upon something for which she was not looking. This phenomenon is known as serendipity, a principle known to science, which fascinates her.