A checkerboard brings to mind a rigidity and order that is subtly undermined in JCJ VANDERHEYDEN’S renditions. Lines are irregular, the squares loosely filled in and often leaving the warm color of the canvas exposed, creating variations of tone. These variables create an individuality to the form, a human element to an otherwise geometric pattern, making each rendition unique.

VANDERHEYDEN evokes a multitude of themes and motifs: a chessboard, the game of logic; the traditional tiling of Dutch houses; or geometric pottery design.

When in color, it evokes the pixilation of digital image, a reduction of an image into the simplified form and color of which VANDERHEYDEN was so interested in exploring. The horizontality calls into question the form of the canvas itself, and the sudden cutting off of the grid pattern suggests the work goes far beyond the limits of the canvas edge.

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