A special time in the 1960’s of space exploration, observing those rockets blast off; suspenseful if the intended hardware or human, his mission, will succeed. It lead to fierce competition between the USA and Russia to conquer this new frontier. They created mistrust that escalated the Cold War. At the same time, because of enormous money needed, domestic affairs were neglected.

This is technically one of seven first Hard Edge paintings. Although this Hard Edge term existed already for ten years (of which I was barely aware), my work is totally without influence and does not resemble any of the earlier products. In addition, the material and application is different as well. It consists of thinned oil glazing, layers separated through cut plastic sheets in required pieces that left a slightly grainy edge. The process of achieving different colours or shades underwent a procedure as in working with Batik, which is by starting with the lighter colour or shade until the required design is achieved.

Oil glazing on canvas / 101.6 x 76.2 cm / 1965