Artist Statement
June 2025

Creative observation lies at the core of my work. I consider perception not as passive reception, but as an act that brings things into being.

Artificial intelligence functions as both source and crowbar — a digital memory I dissect, rearrange, and recompose. My process begins with algorithmic noise: fragments shaped and refined on my iPad, before being translated into oil on canvas. Like a visual cutter, I engage with image-making through rupture and reassembly.

The cut-up technique resurfaces in my painting: the present is split open, and what emerges is a charged possibility — a future that only comes into existence through the act of looking.

In Conversation with Roberto

Can you tell us about your journey as an artist? How did it all begin?

My journey as an artist began later in life, after careers in architecture and business. Creativity had always been present, but painting offered a new way of thinking — slower, more concentrated. I enrolled at a local academy without any prior training, driven by a deep fascination for the craftsmanship of the Old Masters. What started as a technical exercise grew into a way of exploring timeless human questions: memory, relationships, desire, and absence. I’m drawn to archetypes in the Jungian sense — figures and gestures that seem to echo something we’ve forgotten but still feel. Painting, for me, is about fixing those elusive fragments onto canvas. I use whatever tools are available, but the aim is always the same: to touch something that lies beneath the surface.

What themes or ideas do you explore in your work?

As I mentioned earlier, my work explores connection, memory, longing, and the unspoken dynamics between people. I'm intrigued by how relationships are coded in posture, gaze, or distance — how silence can be more revealing than action. But alongside that psychological undercurrent, there’s always a layer of irony. I don’t believe we should take ourselves too seriously, and that attitude seeps into the compositions. A small twist — the introduction of a detail in a different visual language, such as a fragment from a Tintin comic — offsets the weight of the subject matter. I work with archetypes rather than individuals, and often the figures seem caught between roles: lovers, strangers, doubles. Nostalgia plays a part too, but not as a longing for the past — more as a texture of emotion. Painting, for me, is a way to fix those ambiguities on canvas.

Are there any artists past or present who have had a significant impact on your work?

Absolutely — Peter Paul Rubens has had a profound influence on me. Not for his themes, but for the mastery — how he built images through form, light, and movement. I studied his paintings in high resolution, down to the smallest brushstroke. There’s a navel in one of his figures that I kept zooming into, just to grasp how precise and economical his touch could be. That kind of craftsmanship is rare. Rubens didn’t just paint — he engineered his images. His studio was a system, his surfaces reveal a mind fully in control of composition and effect. I don’t emulate his style, but I aim for that clarity of construction and control over the image.

How do you handle creative blocks or periods of self-doubt?

I leave. A change of air often changes the image. I like spending longer periods — a few months if possible — in large cities: Rome, Paris, Istanbul. There are others on my list. Travel doesn’t solve anything, but it shifts perspective, and that’s usually enough. I don’t believe in waiting for inspiration; it’s more like tracking an animal that doesn’t want to be seen. And doubt? That’s just the background noise of making.

What has been your most meaningful or memorable project to date?

Yes — at the end of August, I’ll be showing new work at Artist Meeting, held in the Grand Casino of Knokke. It’s a special moment for me because it will be the first time I’m presenting pieces from my Jessica series to the public in Belgium. This body of work deals with human relationships — not in a narrative sense, but through suggestion, ambiguity, and visual tension. There’s a psychological undercurrent in these paintings, often counterbalanced by irony or references to pop culture. Showing them in a setting like Knokke, with its mix of glamour and nostalgia, feels oddly appropriate.

How has the digital age and social media impacted your practice and reach as an artist?

I didn’t invite the digital age into my studio — it let itself in. It's part of the world we inhabit now, like light or gravity. AI is the extension of my arm as an artist. It changes how we perceive reality, how we form images, how we relate to time and memory. I don’t use it for effect or convenience, but to question what’s real and what’s made. My work lives in that fracture. What matters is how we navigate the new logic of images.

What do you hope people feel or take away when they view your art?

I hope they stop for a moment — a flicker of recognition, perhaps. Something that stirs a memory or triggers a feeling, a sense of something that once existed, something that’s gone. It might be nostalgia, or something else entirely. I’m not here to teach or impress. If the image lingers, quietly, like a sentence you half remember, that’s enough. And if not — the offering was made.

About the Artist

R O B E R T O
Architect | Entrepreneur | Author | Artist

Biography
Born in 1953 in Schoten, Belgium, Roberto (né Robert Verlinde) is an architect by formation and a visual artist by calling. Trained in traditional oil painting, he has, in recent years, integrated AI-generated material into his process — not as a shortcut, but as a volatile substrate to be fragmented, reworked, and resolved on canvas. His work balances manual precision with irony and structural intent.

Professional Background

Architect (1977–1986)
– Recipient of multiple architecture awards

Entrepreneur (1986–2012)
– Led successful ventures across diverse industries

Publications & Literary Achievements

Author
– IXION (Dutch novel, 2020)

Poetry Awards
– Multiple-time laureate, including:
• Boontje Poetry Award (2019, 2021)

Exhibitions

Solo Exhibitions
– Nobody & Friends, Antwerp (2021)
– Private Exhibition, Buenos Aires (2022)

Group Exhibitions
– Tantram, Zürich (2019)

Recognition

– Named one of “100 Artists to Follow in 2024” by TheHug curators (MoMA, Christie’s, and more)

Languages

Fluent in Dutch, French, and English

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