Epic 'About Me' section
I’m John John. And I used to be a normal Belgian guy – casually creating art from time to time.
Which all changed in 1995, when I first read Joseph Campbell’s The Hero’s Journey. See… somewhere in the middle of the book, everything suddenly clicked for me.
I knew exactly what I wanted to do with my art. And it was the first time I started considering a career in art…
Fast forward 28 years, and I’ve created over 100 artworks – all made from recycled everyday waste like bottle caps, drinks cans, and textiles.
And I’m far from done. I’m constantly creating new art not only to show that beautiful things can be made out of trash. But also to inspire people. And to show how powerful we (humans) are when we’re united.
If you want to follow my mission, follow me on IG or Facebook.
My bio
1968
I was born in Antwerp, Belgium. Growing up in a cozy collective. I’m the youngest of 4 kids. My father was a macho man with loads of friends. My mom a beautiful woman born in Argentina (who got the attention of many men.)
1968 - 1980
When I was 6 months old, my parents got divorced. So, I grew up with a single mother. Which was a bit chaotic.
Nonetheless, I had a good upbringing: was never short on love, warmth or money. But since I had no father, I did feel insecure at times. And often went down the wrong track.
1980
Around 12 years old I saw the film ‘Hiroshima mon amour’ which showed images of the destroyed city. And that made me scared of loud bangs. Scared of planes dropping atomic bombs. Scared of news about the war. And scared about ecological disasters.
Just so you know, I’m alright now 😉. (After some time, I had enough and decided to use it to create something constructive – art.)
1980 (2)
At 12 years old, I also suffered my greatest trauma: changing schools. I not only had to leave all my friends behind. But also went from living in a spacious home to living in a tiny social house in the roughest neighborhood of the city.
This shocked me so much that I went from being an outgoing extrovert to an isolated introvert.
1985
At 17, I had a passion for poetry. A film school diploma, specializing in screenplay. And a desire to write meaningful stories. So, the logical choice was to start writing. Which is what I started doing.
1986 -1998
I wrote all kinds of stuff: screenplays, novels, radio plays and even poem collections. But when I wrote, I often felt like I wasn’t doing any real work. Like I was a parasite in society.
(Probably since I lived on benefits.)
So, I switched my writing career up with periods of manual labor. And worked every job known to man. From tomato picker to stage technician to baker’s assistant.
1995
In my ninth year as a writer, I read the book “The Hero’s Journey” by Joseph Campbell, a scientist. And not long after I first read it, I realized that my art—which I made occasionally at home—represented a hero’s journey.
My departure: I distance myself from conventional art forms.
My initiation: I start a new myth through my work with recycled materials.
My return: I inspire others with my message of unity and sustainability.
I finally found the meaning I had been looking for my whole life. And for the first time ever, I started thinking about a career in art.
1998
One day, at 30 years old, I got tired of both the writing and the part-time jobs. Which made me feel empty and purposeless. So, I decided to learn a trade. And become a craftsman.
Couple days later, I went to the library and came across a book by Friedensreich Hundertwasser, an Austrian architect. Which inspired me to become one myself.
1998 (2)
So, I enrolled in a flooring course and started tinkering with broken tiles at home. In my spare time I went to people’s homes to tile bathrooms and kitchens with inlaid motifs like my heroes did in the art books.
I finally felt like I was on track. Then I started working for a stone cutter and that’s how everything really started.
2001
On the 15th of February, my wife gave birth to my oldest son, Finn. Making me a father for the third time.
2002 - 2005
In 2002 I started project Hu-one. A project built upon the “One people, One planet” principle.
The goal? To spread my message of ‘mankind united’ through starting my own production house, advertising agency, animation series…
The plan? To bombard YouTube with all kinds of catchy Hu-one animation videos. Which is how I ended up creating The Circle – based on the popular animated series La Linea, but with a circle. But around 2005, it got too expensive and I had to quit.
P.S. if you want to see one of the animations, click here.
2017 - 2019
I watched 77 episodes of Brilliant ideas – a podcast on Youtube about contemporary modern art & amazing artists. Seeing these artists create real-life, beautiful art inspired me to keep experimenting and creating my own art.
P.S. Highly recommend you watch this one, with artist Chiharu Shiota. Was – by far – one of my favorite episodes.
2018
Cambell’s book ‘The Hero’s Journey’. The hu-one project. And the YT show ‘Brilliant ideas.’
Thanks to those three ‘experiences’, I finally decided to become an artist in 2018. And from then on I really started to focus on making works of art.
2019
A good friend of mine, Peter Bernaerts, owned an auction house in Antwerp. And in 2019, he suggested I’d exhibit some of my works there. Which was an offer I couldn’t resist.
So a couple weeks later (in June), the expo started and I exhibited my ‘ocean in a drop’ and ‘passage’ collections.
(Was my first ever exhibition 😄 – I’m still proud of it to this day.)
2019 (2)
After a whole series of smaller works, I wanted to challenge myself and create something big.
So I made Oceaninadrop 13 (part of my Oceaninadrop collection.) Which was a small feat: was 130 cm in diameter and contained more than 3,000 hand-flattened bottle caps.
An absolute milestone in my career.
2020 - 2021
After my Oceaninadrop collection, I created art exclusively made out of bottle caps, such as “Almond Blossom” & “Spirit”. But this was too labor intensive and gifted me a golfer’s elbow. Which got me started on my search for different materials.
And at first, the only addition were the metal lids from the kitchen. Nowadays, I also partner with cafes and restaurants to get material for my art.
2022
I recreated the scream from Edvard Munch. Which was a challenge for two reasons.
One because it’s a HUGE work. Two because mid-creation I realized the bottle caps I was using would fragment the face and make the tormented expression simply impossible.
But after a long search, I fixed that problem. (I came across a piece of textile (hemp) that I first immersed in bister ink)
Btw, here’s what it looks like: The Scream
2022 - 2023
Sven Maes, a gallerist, reached out to me in March, because he loved my work. And after some talking and thinking, we agreed on exhibiting my ‘Precious Metals and other exquisite waste’ & ‘Recycling the masters’ collections. For a full year.
And it was both a good and bad experience. Good because some of my more expensive paintings got sold. And I realized I had an audience. And bad because of stiff communication (and long distance). Which is also why I left.
2023
I was present at the ‘Art meets nature’ project. A gigantic art auction by the non-profit organization Kiwanis. The media was also present.
And they decided to interview me. So in September 2023, I had my very first press interview EVER in the botanical garden of Meise. Here we discussed the project itself. And my contribution to art in general. Was… EPIC.
2024
I created la memoria de las flores. Which was a milestone for three reasons. One because it’s the first time I combined paint & metal. Two because it’s the fastest work I ever created.
And three because I sold it in record-time. Hung at an exhibition for only a few hours before someone bought it.
2024 (2)
In April of 2024, I partnered up with Anita Fleerackers, a down-to-earth gallerist. And because we get along so well (and because she lives close to me), I’m still, to this day, exhibiting my most recent works at her gallery in Gierle.