“I take inspiration from everything around me,” he says. “My favourite painters are Edward Hopper, David Hockney, Mark Rothko, Wilhelm Sasnal, and many others.” Out of these, the influence of Hopper and Hockney is easily recognisable. As in the paintings of Hopper, we frequently find men and women who are walled off from the outside world in Darek’s work. “Morning Sun” immediately comes to mind. Also, the water and the air have a solidity that resembles Hockney’s “A Bigger Splash”.