What does all this artificiality mean?
An introduction to my work
In my country, The Netherlands, the landscape is manmade. And it's hard to find a piece of nature around here that hasn't been flattened by the great iron of neatness and efficiency.
In my art I explore what all this artificiality means. And especially: what does it mean to be a creature? A creator?
I live on a farm and deal with creatures par excellence on a daily basis. Cattle are animals that have been bred to serve us. They only remotely resemble their ancestors. And they would probably die if you let them loose in the wild. Like most people.
People love to see themselves as creators, but it is difficult to pinpoint our identity. We are also shaped by others and by life itself.
Moreover, like all living beings we are transient and our lives are fleeting. While farming I often experience how close life and death really are.
As an artist I take pictures of the world around me. Then I layer them with the help of digital photo editing programs. This way I make connections and combinations we often forget about and create new images that evoke ancient origin.
My goal is to show the cohesion nature has in itself. To experience animated matters again. And how everything springs from the same source.
Exceptions of the layering principle are the pages: Fee and Fan ’e Greide.
The poetic texts on this website are quotes from my poetry collection Wêzen (Being). This collection is written in Frisian. The second language of the Netherlands and my mother tongue.
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