My work invites the visitor to interact with water in a way to open them up for or reawaken a childlike wonder and fascination. We are drawn to water, whether it is to enjoy from a distance as a pleasant dreamy view, floating on it in a boat or diving right in - with everything else in between. It seems to be especially magnetic to children, who lack our adult inhibition of getting wet with the prospect of cold fingers and damp clothes - as well as our forgetfulness of how to enjoy playing in the simplest way, with not much more than stones and water. My work softly calls "Yn-dann dava - come and touch".

Credits for the Image to Django van Ardenne

Artist statement

I draw my inspiration from traces found in my environment, seeking for communication with water, light, the ground beneath our feet and sounds that surround us. The rivers in Germany where I grew up, mountains and clear lakes in the Swiss countryside where I spent the last decade as well as the rough sea and coast of the Atlantic as a second home are companions in my work. Since moving to the Netherlands I have come to love the wide open fields and man-made waterways and the abundance of waterbirds that come with them.

The elements that surround me, as well as the discarded and often unrecognisable little objects I come across wherever I go, all carry traces, carry their stories – our stories.

My work has both been a source of comfort for the yearning of wilder landscape as well as a joyful collaboration with the countryside I find myself in.

Working on location gives me the opportunity to find my place in new surroundings, absorb them and become part of them, picking up little foundlings on the way.

I encounter these golden moments, whether by the sea or in the delight of a new little find: a rusty nail that instantly becomes an old friend – and I feel the irresistible urge to share them with others, give others a glimpse into the world I see.

Ambitions

I will continue to grow and will have 5 years more experience as an artist, starting out but with -by then- more of a feel for and an orientation in the professional field.

Learned during the studies

The value of genuine, honest and critical interpersonal feedback. It's hard to find, but it's the most important to grow. So you need to keep digging for it.

List of publications / exhibitions / prices / concerts / shows etc.

pollow - the shallows: graduation show HKU 2023
de beuk: interactive sculptural installation at Amelisweerd, June 2022 - May 2023
kerrek don' gan - stones carry us: carwash exhibition February 2022