Jan Meijering who are you?
I was born in 1960 in Hummelo, a small village in the Netherlands where everyone believed in God. When I was nineteen I went to Amsterdam to study Political science at the University of Amsterdam. I was an idealist who wanted to learn how to change the world. It became clear to me that I liked art more than politics and I went to the academy of arts in Arnhem. I still live in this city. For a long time I was a kind of a loner who travelled a lot, but I became a familyman who stays at home as much as possible.

Your work changed radically in the last ten years. Why did you stop making abstract paintings?
Making abstract art was an activity at first, but later on it became a part of my identity. I realized that I had more identities than only this one and I wanted to explore them too. But, to be honest with you, there was also a problem with the interpretation of my work that needed to be solved. My abstract paintings have a more or less symbolic, religious content, but most people regard them as formal exercises with pure esthetic aims. I wanted to become an artist of my own age instead of a follower of hero-artists like Malevich or Mondrian.