Magma
Pegasus (2005). 75x57cm. Printer toner and sand on 300gr Arches Moulin du Gué paper.
Persephone (2008). 38x40cm. Printer toner, white ink and collage on 320gr Khadi paper.
Winter (2006). 70x50cm.Printer toner and vegetable dye on 300gr Arches Moulin du Gué paper.
The Stag and the Serpent (2006). 137x106cm. Printer toner and gesso on wooden board.
The Magma series and at work with different materials. Photos of Vandendorpe at work were taken by Mercedes Herrán.
In 2004, I took two engraving courses at Universidad Politécnica de Valencia. Introducing a chemical agent (nitric acid) in the creation process was fascinating for its ability to slowly transform metals. It led me to a certain renunciation of control over what I wanted to express; what prevailed now was the desire for experimentation and an enormous curiosity about the results. After this, I searched for a way to use what I had learned in my drawings and paintings. I wanted the materials to maintain a certain agency, so I started working with fire, alcohol, various corrosive liquids, sand…
For 4 years, I had been systematically collecting my dreams, so I was able to observe how this works with matter permeated my unconscious. At that time, I read Alchemy by Marie-Louise von Franz—one of C.G. Jung’s main collaborators—, in which the author points out precisely how working with materials that have been invested with a symbolic value has a transformative effect on the psyche. This was a turning point in my work with images, for it was no longer about what I could say through an image that only mattered, but also what I could learn from it.
Vandendorpe, March 2009