Tijs Dragtsma (1992) - Monoliths Holding Their Silence
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Tijs Dragtsma’s original, signed contemporary mixed-media work Monoliths Holding Their Silence (51 × 51 cm), created in 2026 in the Netherlands, sold directly from the artist and with its frame.
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Description from the seller
Monoliths Holding Their Silence gathers a row of concrete giants under a pale, unmoving sky. They do not lean on one another, and they do not need to. Each stands on its own weight, its surface marked by wide circular openings that read as windows, or eyes, or simply absences, places where the mass has chosen to let light through rather than hold it back.
No paint. No print. No ink. The image is scratched into the surface of the acrylic glass, built by removal rather than addition, in the same way these towers feel carved out of something larger rather than assembled from nothing.
The image is always present, in daylight and in shade alike. Light does not create it, it sharpens it. Under a direct source the concrete grain tightens, the circular voids gain depth, and the contrast between mass and opening deepens. It reads differently from different angles, without ever losing the image.
From across a room the composition holds together as a single monumental silhouette, towers standing shoulder to shoulder against an open sky. Move closer and that silhouette dissolves into a field of controlled scratches, each one small, together carrying the exact weight of concrete.
The circular openings carry their own quiet meaning. In a landscape this closed and this heavy, they read as apertures, places where the structure allows itself to be seen through rather than only seen. Brutalism is often described as unforgiving, but here the monoliths keep something soft at their center, light passing clean through solid form.
Monoliths Holding Their Silence continues the Art with Scratch series by Tijs Dragtsma, in which imagery is constructed through controlled surface damage rather than pigment or print, a visual language where damage is not destruction, but structure.
"Some silences are not empty. They are simply holding their shape."
About Art with Scratch
Art with Scratch is a body of work in which the image is not drawn, but released. Carved line by line into a deep black surface, each work emerges through countless precise scratches that catch the light and bring form out of darkness.
From a distance, the image appears almost photographic. Powerful, recognisable and full of presence. Yet up close, the work dissolves into a dense field of individual marks. Fine, fragile and almost weightless. What seemed solid reveals itself as a delicate web of lines, each one a deliberate gesture, each one essential to the whole.
Light does not create the image. It sharpens it. The black surface absorbs, while the scratched lines reflect. As light shifts across the surface, the image breathes. From one angle the figure stands clear and defined. From another it softens and settles back toward the darkness from which it came, without ever disappearing. Under a focused spotlight, the contrast deepens and the image takes on a sculptural, almost luminous quality.
What makes this medium so compelling is its quiet tension. The act of scratching is direct and irreversible. Every line is a decision that cannot be undone. Yet the result is not harsh. It is intimate, atmospheric and alive with movement. Hardness becomes softness. Destruction becomes creation. Absence becomes presence.
In works such as this portrait, the figure is never fully fixed. Through the interplay of line, light and shadow, the image shifts with perspective and atmosphere. At certain moments, the subject seems to step forward out of the black. At others, it settles back into stillness. It is within that movement, between sharpness and calm, that the work comes alive.
Like all materials touched by time, the surface carries its own quiet life. Each scratch holds a moment, a breath, a gesture. Together they form not just an image, but a presence, one that continues to reveal itself with every change of light.
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.
Monoliths Holding Their Silence gathers a row of concrete giants under a pale, unmoving sky. They do not lean on one another, and they do not need to. Each stands on its own weight, its surface marked by wide circular openings that read as windows, or eyes, or simply absences, places where the mass has chosen to let light through rather than hold it back.
No paint. No print. No ink. The image is scratched into the surface of the acrylic glass, built by removal rather than addition, in the same way these towers feel carved out of something larger rather than assembled from nothing.
The image is always present, in daylight and in shade alike. Light does not create it, it sharpens it. Under a direct source the concrete grain tightens, the circular voids gain depth, and the contrast between mass and opening deepens. It reads differently from different angles, without ever losing the image.
From across a room the composition holds together as a single monumental silhouette, towers standing shoulder to shoulder against an open sky. Move closer and that silhouette dissolves into a field of controlled scratches, each one small, together carrying the exact weight of concrete.
The circular openings carry their own quiet meaning. In a landscape this closed and this heavy, they read as apertures, places where the structure allows itself to be seen through rather than only seen. Brutalism is often described as unforgiving, but here the monoliths keep something soft at their center, light passing clean through solid form.
Monoliths Holding Their Silence continues the Art with Scratch series by Tijs Dragtsma, in which imagery is constructed through controlled surface damage rather than pigment or print, a visual language where damage is not destruction, but structure.
"Some silences are not empty. They are simply holding their shape."
About Art with Scratch
Art with Scratch is a body of work in which the image is not drawn, but released. Carved line by line into a deep black surface, each work emerges through countless precise scratches that catch the light and bring form out of darkness.
From a distance, the image appears almost photographic. Powerful, recognisable and full of presence. Yet up close, the work dissolves into a dense field of individual marks. Fine, fragile and almost weightless. What seemed solid reveals itself as a delicate web of lines, each one a deliberate gesture, each one essential to the whole.
Light does not create the image. It sharpens it. The black surface absorbs, while the scratched lines reflect. As light shifts across the surface, the image breathes. From one angle the figure stands clear and defined. From another it softens and settles back toward the darkness from which it came, without ever disappearing. Under a focused spotlight, the contrast deepens and the image takes on a sculptural, almost luminous quality.
What makes this medium so compelling is its quiet tension. The act of scratching is direct and irreversible. Every line is a decision that cannot be undone. Yet the result is not harsh. It is intimate, atmospheric and alive with movement. Hardness becomes softness. Destruction becomes creation. Absence becomes presence.
In works such as this portrait, the figure is never fully fixed. Through the interplay of line, light and shadow, the image shifts with perspective and atmosphere. At certain moments, the subject seems to step forward out of the black. At others, it settles back into stillness. It is within that movement, between sharpness and calm, that the work comes alive.
Like all materials touched by time, the surface carries its own quiet life. Each scratch holds a moment, a breath, a gesture. Together they form not just an image, but a presence, one that continues to reveal itself with every change of light.
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.
Details
Artist
Tijs Dragtsma (1992)
Sold with frame
Yes
Sold by
Direct from the artist
Edition
Original
Title of artwork
Monoliths Holding Their Silence
Technique
Mixed media
Signature
Signed
Country of origin
Netherlands
Year
2026
Condition
Excellent condition
Colour
Black, White
Height
51 cm
Width
51 cm
Style
Contemporary
Period
2020+
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