Tijs Dragtsma (1992) - Void. Void 002. Between Light and Silence

A figure rests between light and silence. The head tilted back, the eyes closed, the arms folded across the chest, not in defense but in stillness, the way one holds a moment that is already passing. Void 002. Between Light and Silence is one of the earliest works in the Art with Void series, and it carries the theme the series was born from.

No paint. No print. No ink. The image is drawn entirely from depth and absence. What the eye reads as a body is a constellation of voids, form given back by what has been taken away.

The title is the work's whole argument. Light and silence are not opposites here, they are the two quiet forces that hold the figure in place. Between them there is no drama, no gesture asking to be seen, only presence, kept just above the threshold of disappearing.

From across the room the work reads as a single, still form, monumental in its quietness. Step closer and the surface opens into a field of depth, point by point, layer beneath layer, different in every light. Morning softens it. Evening deepens it. The figure keeps its calm through both.

As the second work ever made in the series, this piece marks the beginning of a visual language that has since grown into a full body of work. Early pieces like this one rarely return to the market once they find a home.

Void 002. Between Light and Silence belongs to the Art with Void series by Tijs Dragtsma, in which imagery is constructed through depth and absence rather than paint or print. A visual language where absence is not emptiness, but presence.

"Between light and silence, the figure simply stays."

About Art with Void

Art with Void is a body of work in which the image is not built through addition. but revealed through absence.

From a distance. the image is unmistakable. Strong. clear and immediately present. Yet up close. the work transforms. The viewer discovers a surface composed of precisely carved micro voids in high quality acrylic glass. What seemed whole and still from afar becomes detailed. delicate and deeply structured.

Light is essential to the work. In daylight. reflections shift and the image changes subtly with its environment. In darkness. under a focused spotlight. the acrylic glass comes fully alive. Depth intensifies. reflections sharpen. and the image takes on an almost magical presence.

This interplay between distance and proximity. image and structure. stillness and transformation lies at the heart of Art with Void. It is a visual language built on reduction. yet rich in atmosphere. precision and presence.

About the Artist

My name is Tijs Dragtsma, founder of TD Fine Art Studio.

As an artist, I am driven by a constant desire to explore new visual languages. I do not see art as a fixed style, but as an evolving field of discovery where material, structure, light and emotion come together.

My work often begins with a simple question. How can a material speak in a new way. How can hardness become intimacy. How can precision create emotion. That search lies at the heart of everything I create.

Within TD Fine Art Studio, each body of work is approached as its own world, with its own logic, atmosphere and visual identity. Some works are built through rhythm, repetition and structure. Others emerge through absence, shadow, reflection or tension. What connects them is a shared commitment to originality, clarity and emotional presence.

I am fascinated by contrast. Between strength and fragility. Between control and feeling. Between what is visible and what is left open to interpretation. My goal is not simply to make an image, but to create a work that holds attention, invites reflection and continues to reveal itself over time.

TD Fine Art Studio is the space in which these explorations come together. It is not only a studio, but an evolving artistic universe shaped by curiosity, precision and the ambition to create work that feels distinctive, intentional and alive.