Who is Martin Jansen

With his art Martin Jansen takes us on a trip into a wonderful world where reality and fantasy seem to merge into one. He applies the laws of nature to the figments of his imagination and lets you wonder what it is you are looking at.

Ever since he was young he has been inspired by the forms of nature and tried to capture them on paper or in clay. Ever so patiently, over and over again hoping that one day his work would match the works of nature. In wax he sculpted portraits with glass eyes and hair punched in one by one. He never studied art, instead he studied life. He got an education in making artificial eyes and facial prosthetics and together with his sister Irma he had a practice where they fitted their artworks to thousands of patients.
This was probably the closest he came to matching his art to nature. Although the people where very pleased with his work Martin submitted himself to nature accepting that his work would never truly be able to compete.

The experience he had in these years gave a boost to his relentless imagination. The materials he had learned to worked with and his knowledge of anatomy were now put to use in creating life forms that no one had ever seen but often heard about in myths and legends. Always walking the thin line between reality and fantasy he and his sister now started a workshop and fantasy store. In these years Martin made his name as a well admired fantasy artist.

Today Martin Jansen commits himself fully to his art, giving free reign to his greatest joy, creating things that look as real as nature itself yet have never been spotted on this earth. On asking why he does what he does he answers: First of all, creating to me is like breathing. You can only hold your breath for so long. And second, I would like people to see and think more freely and I hope my work will open peoples eyes and minds to the richness of life itself instead of merely conforming their perception to the boundaries set by society as we have created it. He gives us the following text to explain his intentions.

Suppose you make a drawing of for instance a butterfly, totally from your imagination. You give it elaborate wings like fairies and twelve legs instead of six. You give it colours that blinds your eyes. Just a wondrous thing, just the way you like it.

Suppose a few months later you read an article that tells of a new species of insects recently found in the rainforest of south America. The photograph that illustrates this message is an exact representation of the drawing you did earlier.

It would be strange I'd have to admit but nevertheless it could happen. Don't you agree? Now, just think about it. Was the drawing you made fantasy or reality? Do we call the things that spring from our imagination fantasies because we know they are not real, or just because we do not know if they are real or not. Just think about it for a moment.

Ok , I think that's enough.

Fantasy is just as much a reality as reality is. Just never take either for the truth. The truth is a completely different thing and we will probably never find it. In the meantime lets enjoy our imagination as well as the things we take for real and life will be a fantasy that may perhaps reveal the truth someday.