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vision

It all starts with a blank canvas. A challenge without a preconceived plan, direction, or measured goal. It stimulates and sets things in motion. The foundation of Con Tonnaer’s work is pure. His instinct serves as the guiding principle, setting the direction. Painting with preordained plans feels constraining, counterproductive even. Con Tonnaer’s work is capricious—not in quality, but in variety. Recognizable, yet diverse. It’s his style. Embracing the primal, allowing vibrant colors to evolve into a sympathetic chaos, with recurring themes. Exciting, yet grounded.

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Each painting carries a heartbeat with an individuality that isn’t dictated by trends. It’s not about knowing; it’s about how it unfolds: the blot, the line—they evolve into new blotches, new lines transforming into shapes, a background harmonized by colors. In short, an infinite sea of tranquility. Then, restless forces rise from the depths of emotion, stirred by inner conflict between the mind and the heart, surging outward to fill the canvas. It’s an ultimate, desperate attempt to capture all the passion, the explosive desire, the chasm between illusion and reality through forms that evoke searing pain and with colors ablaze with passion, lust, and love—all contained within the four borders of the canvas. A boundary that, despite the size of his works, often proves to be too small.

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The impact of the work extends beyond its physical size. Especially in depth, it transcends the limits of judgment and societal norms. It touches the deepest, most fundamental human emotions: the childlike awareness. It strikes the viewer like a hammer blow through their ‘mirror neurons,’ triggering reaction and reflection on the essential aspects of being human through its timeless imagery and expressive depictions.

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