Daan Botlek plays with ambiguity in his geometric compositions

Based in Rotterdam, illustrator and artist Daan Botlek’s geometric creations are unusual and ambiguous. Created using a mix of pen and posca, his compositions are vivid with mottled details, and Daan’s outlined figures interact with a mix of blocks and more organic shapes.

“The basis of all my work is drawing. I started with making a lot of drawings of plain white men engaged in some action or interaction with themselves or others,” says Daan. “General ideas of biology and physics don’t apply to these men. They have been chopped, sliced, moulded and merged like objects. When stacked in different compositions they start to resemble patterns.”

There’s an uncertainty to Daan’s work titled Diorama Obscura, and he exaggerates this by playing with perspective. Flat shapes and more sculptural elements sit side by side, and the white background to all of his images only adds to the limbo-like quality of Daan’s work.