Art & design is not about what you see, but what you make others see.

My name is Christel Valkeneers, and I was born and raised in rural Herk-de-Stad in the late 1960s. I developed a passion for art at a very young age. Over the years, time for painting gave way to time with my family, running my household and working full-time.

As a medical representative, I travel daily across the Dutch-speaking region. With roads getting busier, traffic jams getting longer and the constant race against time, I find myself increasingly longing to slow down and be more mindful of the moment.

Time flies by like crazy, and yet I try to stop the clock for a moment—call it an escape from time and the rush of everyday life. It was here that I rediscovered my passion for painting. My stress levels drop as my hands glide across the canvas. There’s a wonderful feeling in letting everything unfold in the flow of the moment. I try to bring this sense of calm into my work: restful colours, gentle movements and abstract forms.

And my heart skips a beat when I can share my moments of escape and relaxation with others, along with the creations that come from them.

Steven Thoelen (Tongeren-1978) distils his own life experiences into images that invite viewers to reflect on the meaning of the choices we make and the paths we take. “Life is what you make of it,” says Thoelen, and this idea lies at the heart of his artistic vision. 

It is remarkable that his internationally award-winning works were captured in a single shot, with every actor appearing in the scene physically present on the meticulously crafted set, which Thoelen personally designed and spent months building. From casting to directing, set construction to decoration, every aspect of the scene was painstakingly crafted by Thoelen. 

Through his art photography, Thoelen has captured moments from his own life that have brought him closer to his true self. His work is not only a reflection of his technical skills, but also of his personal journey of self-discovery and growth. 'I believe that the path we walk can only be made by ourselves,' says Thoelen. 'Every choice we make, every experience we have, contributes to the unique journey that shapes our lives.' His art serves as a reminder that life is an adventure, full of opportunities for self-expression and personal growth. It reflects the depth of human experience, and the ability to capture and convey emotions, stories and the complexity of human life. It is about his ability to forge a deep, meaningful connection with the viewer, enabling them to see themselves and the world around them in a new way. 

Be grateful, and celebrate life!

Italo Bressan was born in Vezzano (TN) in 1950. He moved to Milan and studied at the Brera Academy of Fine Arts, where he has taught painting since 1983. In 1992, he became Professor of Painting at the Accademia Albertina in Turin, and in 2002, Professor of Painting at the Accademia di Brera.

For several decades, Italo Bressan’s research has revolved around reflecting on the foundational elements of painting: form and colour. His focus on these components is seen as an expressive yet fluid energy, in which the plastic force of the chromatic element defines a new dynamic space, where form materialises through colour.

At the heart of his research is a profound sense of chromatic intensity, which Bressan experiences with spontaneity and complete mastery.

In his paintings, absence and presence coexist, as do density and lightness. At the heart of the artist’s interests is a profound sense of clarity as a place where every colour and its infinite nuances are revealed.

In every respect, it is a painting of light which, though ethereal and floating, can produce chromatic variations of great intensity.

The painterly space is a centre of energy and tension, reflection and impulse, confrontation with the outside world and introspection. The artist’s romantic temperament comes to life in the sublime surfaces, where gestures give rise to emotional impulses that suggest the movement of brushstrokes through space, while layers of colour create an extraordinary sense of transparency and suspension.

Following a body of work devoted to chromatic vibrations, he shifts his focus from light and shadow, colour harmonies and contrasts, and emblematic gestures to an exploration of the structure and distribution of the formal system: solid architecture with seemingly nonexistent outlines highlights the transformation of the support, achieved by joining canvases, panels or glass. Sometimes covered with simple brushstrokes, sometimes veiled with paper, these works make their relationship with the space around them even more pronounced, as shadows take on an ambiguous role in the identity of the painting.

His most recent work explores the concept of shadow in pieces that take the form of a page on which his gesture becomes a temporary scan, leaving a mark that preserves the pressure of engraving and the sequence of writing.

In this latest cycle of works, sparked by the observation of inscriptions in stone, he restores the original element of the minimal, primal sign. The shadow emerges from the attempt to erase the signs themselves, arranged in a specific rhythm across the painting’s surface.

What intrigues him and underpins his latest cycle of works is the concept of memory, which Bressan identifies with the “spirit of the time” and “existential time”; two concepts that allow him to reflect on the idea of a “new” reality borrowed in this latest body of work.

The aspect he meditates on is the choice of an organic, primary material such as charcoal, which creates shadows by releasing dust — fleeting traces, evidence of the passage of time. Naturally, all this is achieved through a freedom of expression that is never detached from intense mental tension. He lives and works between Milan and Trento.