Ray Zijlstra, born in 1966 in Aruba. Schooled and trained in Western Europe.  Studied art with Angela Mackay, printmaking artist (1995 – 1998 London), Ron Roomer, art theorist (1998 – 2003) Amsterdam) Guda Stoop, artist and curator (1999 – 2001 Amsterdam), Igor Serov, mathematician particle physicist and artist (2001 – 2003 Amsterdam) and Ralf Haase, painting/composition (2001 – 2004 Berlin and Amsterdam).

In his quest on how art could make the world a better place he moved in 2012 to Heesterveld Creative Community, as an undercover artist -in-residence, he wrote the conception for a restaurant and he formulated an Art Gallery.

The connecting and layering of the materials and techniques forms the impetus of the work. Because of this “movement” and the exploratory process it is never clear where and how a project or piece will be. For the artist the story becometh. The connecting and layering is also applied to his research of art in social domain, community art and collaborations in collectives.

In his body of works he reflects upon his own position and, or as, the other in the social context and his position or of the so-called other in the intersubjective space. Many of his projects are perennial investigations into how the apparent reality takes shape and the examination of the human condition in relationship to Art.

The same freedom he gives himself in the process of making Art, he grants the beholder who does not need the directive hand of the artist. Everything can and should be found in his work; believing that he should not position himself in the creative process of the viewer/experiencer. Since he has already done what he could have done, which is making, perhaps naming, and presenting the piece.

The meta-research of his artistic voyage has been about understanding Art for itself and in itself. ART = HUMANITY = ‘HUMANstill’.