The works of J S Van Der Kooij start with the surprising elegance to the shape of dog pee on a pavement, a glance at the reflection of a tree, or a serendipitous stroke of a faulty brush that doesn’t want to behave.

The belief that there are unconscious forces at play in all aesthetic perceptions, causes a desire to tap into these forces in pursuit of discovery as much as creation.

He proudly steals from nature to create works of intricate directionality that leave you wanting to treat them as a puzzle to solve. The experience is at once jarring and soothing, but always in flux - and his flirtation with negative space acts as a calm antidote to the immediacy that the works demand from their observers.