Roland Aalbers’s paintings are about space, time and light. Connected themes that are essential, elusive and mysterious. They are also the basic features of painting in general for Aalbers. Perspective is virtually avoided in his abstract paintings.
Spaciousness and time are shaped by differences in paint thickness, which naturally arises from the explorative and therefore richly layered painting process. Color as a luminous element and differences in surface structure further contribute to this.
Framing space is a reflection of the division and framing of space and time in both the outside world and in our consciousness by means of concepts, views, beliefs and the creation of a past and a future.
Aalbers’s musical background as a classically trained pianist may not be immediately visible, but it does play a role. For example, the musical elements of abstraction, time and rhythm are present in his paintings. The layering, the simultaneous presence of different layers, can be compared with the polyphony in music. The painter Paul Klee, also a musician, called it ‘polyphone Malerei’.