Paintings : Hyperdimensionals
'An energetic fusion of Pop Surrealism and Abstract Expressionism'
Koos Van der Wat’s paintings are vibrant, densely layered works that fuse the lowbrow, cartoonish flair of hand-drawn animation with the chaotic energy of mid-century abstract expressionism. The works teem with mystical symbols, blending dystopian and utopian visions in a playfully hallucinogenic tapestry.
Familiar South African icons, like the Hillbrow Tower and Voortrekker Monument are reimagined in intense, fluorescent tones, crackling with an electric otherworldly energy. Visionary landscapes like Magnetropolis and Afrika 3000 feel as if they’ve been plucked straight from some kind of archetypal techno-mystical cartoon world.
Subject matter ranges from the microscopic to the macroscopic and everything in between.
Through the process of painting, many of the symbols and structures arise that inform the vision and lexicon of the Kossy World mythos, such as the appearance of the emoji-like molecules in the early works of 2007.
These molecules form part of the Grid of Nature, in which each symbol face represents a different theme and location such as a city or facility.
The Hyperdimension Era represents the chaotic birth of the Parallel World Paradigm's philosophical infrastructure. The vision of the Siloscape introduced a parallel world paradigm for a brand new age.
Kossy paintings represent this fresh new interplanetary trajectory.
Chateau Orquevaux
In 2018, Koos attended the Château Orquevaux Residency in France, where his playful, surreal works contrasted strikingly with the gravitas of the French architecture.
Blending surrealism with abstract expressionism, his paintings explore the psyche with a mix of humor and mystery, balancing the childlike with the profound. The residency works reflect spontaneity and intention, using abstraction to evoke emotion and instinct, enriched by the historical depth of the château's setting.
