My name is Christian Berends, and I am a contemporary oil painter working under the alias Lend Me Your Underbelly. I paint both outdoors and in the studio, often working en plein air to be surrounded by the landscape. There is a kind of thrill to painting from direct observation when the atmosphere is constantly changing. Think of shifts in light, movements of the vegetation, wind, and sound.

In my paintings, I’m searching for a kind of “emerging” quality, like they’re being remembered or felt rather than documented. It’s about being with a subject at a certain moment and taking the time to observe. In this, light functions as the main structure. It organizes space, defines the atmosphere, and creates depth.

Whether I stay closer to realism or step out of it, the paintings almost always have something anchoring them in real observation. Sometimes it’s the subtle transitions in light or form, sometimes the gesture of a branch, sometimes just the way colors respond to one another.

I love to play with color, but I try not to rely on color to do the emotional heavy lifting. Even when I venture into bolder colors, there’s often restraint. I am always searching for a balance through modulation, not explosion. That tension seems to be part of my voice.

Then there is the brush touching the canvas. The way the brushstrokes are made is comparable to handwriting. It is something personal. By nature, I paint quite loosely. I like to play a tactile rhythm with my brushes. Letting the brushstrokes dance, fragment, soften, and cut. 

I feel at home in nature and can drift away just by looking at the trees and plants, the clouds, the water, and the wildlife around us. At the same time, I am fascinated by the physicality of paint. The paint itself with its colorful pigments. And how layering and combining brushstrokes can form an image that relates to the experience of being in that place. It has such an attraction to me that I constantly want to come back to it with a new canvas.

Background – before immersing myself in painting I was active as a scientist and musician:

• 2004-2006: MSc, Biomolecular Sciences, Utrecht University
• 2006-2012: PhD, Developmental Biology, Utrecht University
  • • Identifying novel factors that promote spindle positioning in the C. elegans embryo.
• 1996-2004: Guitarist in Downburst (rock/metal)
• 2002-2011: Guitarist in Salacious Gods (black metal)
• 2011-2021: Solo musician performing under the alias “Lend me your underbelly”.
  • • Music from this period can be found on different platforms, for example: Spotify, Bandcamp and Youtube.