On the day he turned 40, visual artist Tom Woestenborghs decided to focus solely on the making process for a year. For a year he wanted to make art without ulterior motives. He limited himself to three themes: floral still life, nude and abstract. But making art without ulterior motive soon turned out to be an impossible task. The flower still life and the nude are ancient themes in art history, to which meanings are attached. Flowers are perishable and for that reason have been associated with memento mori for centuries. Female nude has been about feminine beauty for centuries, but also evokes social discussions about identity and power relations in our time. And forces the viewer into the role of voyeur. Even abstract art is not without meaning. Shapes, colors and use of materials still evoke associations.