很多艺术品的创作目的就是为了美。我想我追求的恰恰相反：我的作品常蕴含讽刺。当你感觉到外表之下隐藏有什么的时候，事情才真正变得有趣起来。——Charlotte Schleiffert

　　I was born in the Netherlands. I have been working for ten years as an artist. I won the Pride Rome, a precious prize in the Netherlands. I live from my work, and get grants from the Netherlands. I was supported by the Netherlands to come to China; I was invited by the Chinese European Art Center to make an exhibition here in Xiamen.

　　I don't have a definition for a good painting, or for any other kind of visual art. A good work simply "grabs" you. You keep looking at it and it excites you. There are no preconditions for this to happen.

　　A lot of art is aimed just at being beautiful. I think what I am seeking is the opposite: my work always has to have a certain ironic character. It is only interesting when you feel there is something going on under the skin. I simply don't want my work to be seen as something beautiful, as a thing of beauty in its own right. That's why I like to show traces of spontaneous action, of the working process. That gives the work certain vigor. Sometimes I have the idea that my sense of beauty falls a long way short of most people's standards. The concept and the form often focus excessively on the subject. The subject is important, of course, but the way I present it is just as important.

　　Very often people here in China say to me, "but I don't understand". I think it's not so much about understanding. People are maybe afraid, or not used to looking at art. People have to use their own imagination. They have to search for themselves what they have experienced. You can just enjoy the colors. I hope people get some kind of feeling when they see my works, whether they like it, or really dislike it.

　　What I research in a painting is what is beauty, or what is not beauty. My interest goes more to the things that are not beautiful. I like it when the painting is questioning me. Do I like the painting, or not. I like it when the painting is difficult. When it is on the edge of beauty or ugliness, then it becomes interesting.

　　In the first place, I make a painting for myself. The audience can see it. But I never think of the audience when I make a painting, because then the painting will not satisfy me, because I will get frightened. When you are an artist you always should challenge yourself.