For the Paradise series I was inspired by mugshots of men who happened to wear a Hawaiian shirt at the time of arrest. The colourful patterns contrast sharply with the often and somewhat confused expressions.

As a viewer you are not immediately aware of what you are looking at, but you instantly feel that something is not quite right. These are not classic portraits, in the sense of them being flattering for the person portrayed. They show more similarities with the so-called tronies from, mainly, the Golden Age. Portraits of often grotesque, ugly or old heads (after life or imagined) that artists used, among other things, to practice displaying facial expressions. In this series, the stark contrast in clothing and expression also offers an interesting challenge for the painter.

As soon as the viewer realises that it concerns photos of arrest, they often begin to fill in the narrative.
However, nothing is known about the reason for the arrest. The work thereby also raises questions about how generally accepted, by now long rejected, certain theories still are that there is a relationship between appearance and personality? Can we recognize a criminal by the shape of his head or the look in his eyes? And what do we think about the privacy rights of these persons? The source material for this series was found online.