westerdoc

An ode to the dedication of the maker

Work in Progress is the title of my personal project about makers. It started with Prima Materia, a film about a good friend who made his artist's dream come true by working on a number of monumental paintings for six months. While shooting for this project, I noticed myself connect with filmmaking in the way I once started. Right when I have a good idea, take my camera and go for it. Using my sincere curiosity as my guideline. By operating the camera myself, it becomes an extension of my own gaze, closer to myself and my search to get a grip on the subject.

Thanks to the low-profile approach I could often visit his studio, sometimes for just a few hours. The whole process became something like slow cooking. That slow pace is carried through into the editing. Shots and scenes leave room to breathe. Simply left wondering, watching the mixing of the paint, looking at how the brush finds its way on the canvas, the concentrated face of the maker, his doubts. Not immediately cutting away once it becomes clear what he is doing, but feeling the intensity of it by looking at it for longer. The search for perfection. To me, these films are about the love of creating and the dedication of the maker. And that coincides with my own process of creating, my own work in progress.