Niels Valentin

Nature and especially the ocean is the artist Niels Valentine's favourite theme. 

“Everywhere in nature we can reflect on life, but nowhere like the ocean can we find peace. For me, it doesn't matter if  it's stormy or quiet. " 

Niels Valentin investigates the ways in which we are touched, what we remember. 

“It's as if there's a common feeling we draw on when we talk about what moves us. What we think is beautiful. " We all know the sensation of the greatness of nature, which after a short time gives personal resonance. We can hardly  go for a walk by the ocean without reflecting on the great things, the ocean almost calls for it, with its large open space  and open horizon. 

“Our everyday lives are so full of information and attitude that we almost have no idea who or what we are. When we  go to the beach, in all its simplicity, it mirrors ourselves. In this way, my pictures are more about the viewer's own  reflection than my attitude. For the same reason, there are never or rarely people or any actual kind of land  acquaintance. " 

In Niels' work, there is also a layer of the relationship between man and nature. 

“Nature today is under pressure. In my belief, thanks to technological developments, we have quietly removed  ourselves from the understanding that we are part of it. But at the same time, technology allows us to manufacture and  surround ourselves with natural surrogates. We may not recognise the root of nature within us, but we miss it. We have  gardens we decorate, potted plants and cut flowers indoors, Outdoor Living stores, plastic laminates with wood look  and everything in nature-referencing decor. We fence nature in, we give it names and opening hours, make-up with  “natural look” - we fill our lives with nature, while nature is just something that is outside. Of course, I also hope that my pictures can modestly contribute to looking at our 7,300 km of coastline with an  understanding other than the recreation that "a drop in the sea" is a badly worn saying that does not apply to an ever  more pressing globe. "

Niels uses his own photos in his work, where the experience is condensed into paintings, where the photo references  never become a list of facts, but solely as a starting point. 

“Although you are never more than 50 km away from the coast in this country, it is interesting to experience how  something for a Dane as relatively banal as the ocean, can literally move us. I have had several visiting my studio or  exhibitions that have been moved by something that my images have triggered, like memories. I believe that this is  exactly what the ocean can do: store feelings in us, realizations about life and ourselves that we in that way contact. We  need nature and especially for me the ocean, where we are mirrored as creatures on the planet and people in life. ” 

Niels Valentin, 1963, is a trained graphic designer, but has worked in the film industry as a background painter, both  traditional and digital. In 2008, he left the industry to live his dream and listen to the inner voice: the painting.

/ Niels Valentin