Theo Overgaauw
- Anna Lilli Garai
- Aug 12
- 3 min read
Theo Overgaauw is a Dutch artist living and working in Sellingen. His paintings combine abstract and figurative elements through a hands-on, experimental approach. He doesn’t start with sketches but works directly on the canvas, letting the image take shape through the process. Over time, his style has changed in response to personal experiences and shifts in environment. Moving from the city to the countryside or dealing with loss have both left their mark. What stays constant is his attention to the act of painting itself. Texture, mood, and the quiet presence of familiar forms often emerge as he works, without forcing anything.
Q: You’ve said that sometimes a way of working just ends, and you have to find a new perspective. What’s that moment like for you?
A: It’s a scary feeling because it can take a few weeks, but it can also take a few months before I find a way of creating an image that I think feels and looks right. I don’t work with a fixed idea of how/what a picture should look like. That means spending a lot of time just experimenting/trying out different things to see what will work. If in the end the result is pleasing, then the next picture and the next should fit within the same atmosphere or mood as the first painting.
Q: When you say “only nonsense comes out of my hands” if you don’t shift—what kind of nonsense do you mean?
A: At a certain moment it will dawn on me that painting the picture/pictures becomes more and more difficult. I start to change a lot within the picture, trying to hold on to what I did before, but in the end I am never really happy with the result. It’s then that I destroy a lot of work, and then I know that a change is necessary.
Q: You’ve moved through abstraction and realism at different times. Do you see those phases as separate, or do they feed into each other?
A: I was working realistically when the loss of a loved one made me stop working for quite some time. When the urge to start painting again became clear to me, I couldn’t continue where I left off. In the end the paintings became more and more abstract, but in most of my work there will always be something recognizable or natural in my abstract work, and vice versa. I like both worlds.
Q: How did moving from the city to the countryside change your way of looking at things?
A: All of a sudden I could see for miles every day. And the clouds, wow! You are so much more closer to the outside world. Although working abstract, it did influence me a lot, but you have to go back a few years to notice that in my work. Today I am still pleased to be living in the country. But I still wonder what will change in me and my work when living in a real big city like London, New York or Tokyo, or living in a climate where the sun is more prominent and the colors become much more saturated.
Q: You’re now looking for a space between abstract and figurative. What kind of tension or freedom does that give you?
A: It gives me all the freedom in the world. I like both worlds, and to be able to have them together is the best. Sometimes it’s more abstract and at other times natural elements are more on top, but both are dear to me. Bringing the two worlds together is challenging because it still has to feel comfortable when I look at it. It has to fit.
Q: You talk about the joy of paint itself. Has that feeling changed over time, or is it the one thing that always stays?
A: When I started with painting I always had an idea how it should look and made preliminary sketches. Those sketches were loosely painted, and then followed the actual painting. But that was never free or loose, but more like painting by numbers. You stick to the concept.
As soon as I changed the way of working—no preliminary sketches, just a blank canvas—I felt free. That is also a challenge: to just start and see what will happen. In that way I experiment all the time. The road that leads to a finished work must be exciting too. And that brings me joy. In a way I feel that I cannot make a mistake, because even a mistake can lead to something wonderful.
