For 20 years, Jo Van Rijckeghem has been creating murals, multi-layered constructions in which, by combining various types of discarded materials, he creates new compositions. Referring to the word ‘assemblage’, which is derived from the French ‘assembler’ meaning ‘to collect’ or ‘to put together’, Van Rijckeghem collects, like a beachcomber, the things that he comes across. He combines, balances and is inspired by the countryside that surrounds him.
The landscape, the rows of trees, the ploughed fields, these define the rhythm of his poetical imagery. He fashions sculptures with materials forgotten in the folds of time. They are remnants that have something to tell, that contain a history within and that appeal to the viewers’ imagination due to their own memories. The act of contemplation by the viewer enables Van Rijckeghem’s work to unfold and become complete.
The artist captures the countryside where he lives and works with an instinctive interplay of materials. He uses a combination of wood, brass, resin and rubber. These are materials that have been used by people throughout the ages, natural materials. For example, resin is produced by specific trees when the bark of their trunk is scarred and rubber is made from the sap of, among others, the Brazilian rubber tree.
The warm golden yellow of brass is symbolic of the perfection, the unrivalled beauty of the sun. This material is frequently used in industrial applications, but also in interior decoration. In this way, Van Rijckeghem underlines the interplay between inside and outside, between nature and culture.
For this artist, the filthiest piece of wood is the most fascinating. Like that piece of tree that is over 500 years old. Van Rijckeghem first lets nature do its work and then manipulates these materials by scratching, chopping, burning and grinding. Referring to ploughed strips of farmland, the artist seeks to interpret nature’s rhythm by such manipulation, which is a never-ending quest to find a balance between nature and culture. In his pursuit to achieve the ideal black colour, he burns wood and then mixes it with rubber. It reminds you of the thick, wet clay after heavy rain.
In his landscape paintings, Jo Van Rijckeghem expresses nature in its very essence, in a poetry of materials, in fertile and infertile fields that await the viewer’s gaze.