DE ARCADE (2024)
During De Arcade (The Arcade), a one-week residency organised by FLUJAS Collectief, I had the chance to work with 14 other artists at Abdij Ulingsheide, a former monastery in Tegelen (NL). Throughout the week, I explored the various facets of the building. Some areas were inhabited, emanating warmth and the smell of cooked food, while others were completely abandoned, desolate, and imbued with remnants of religious practices. I became captivated by the location, its history, and the stark contrasts, as well as by the other participating artists. The circumstances encouraged experimentation and new discoveries.Two works emerged from this experience: MAGNOLIA & ANNE.
During De Arcade (The Arcade), a one-week residency organised by FLUJAS Collectief, I had the chance to work with 14 other artists at Abdij Ulingsheide, a former monastery in Tegelen (NL). Throughout the week, I explored the various facets of the building. Some areas were inhabited, emanating warmth and the smell of cooked food, while others were completely abandoned, desolate, and imbued with remnants of religious practices. I became captivated by the location, its history, and the stark contrasts, as well as by the other participating artists. The circumstances encouraged experimentation and new discoveries.Two works emerged from this experience: MAGNOLIA & ANNE.
MAGNOLIA / Prints on paper / In collaboration with Lola Schot & Nanet Hazenbosch.
At the heart of the monastery complex lies a small, abandoned garden, home to a large magnolia tree planted approximately 60 years ago. I found it remarkably coincidental that a magnolia, symbolising feminine energy, was situated in the midst of a male monastery.
Je zocht steun
Toen je verdriet had
Leven toen je alleen was
Tegen het duister leunde je aan
In deze tuin van weelde en leegte
Als narcissus zakte je door me
Waar het koel was of speels
Hier binnen gevangen
Terwijl je naar mij kijkt
Kijkt en kijkt
Van deze en gene zijde
Je loopt aan mij voorbij
In gangen van herinnering
Deep blauw, teer roze
Een beverburcht
Waar het water aan mijn lippen staat
Maar niemand die me hoort
Omdat ik niet spreek
Gevangen in een tuin
Waar van me genoten
Wordt door mannen
Die enkel bovenaards genieten
- NANET HAZENBOSCH
ANNE / Vertical video with sound, duration / 4min. and 30 sec. / In collaboration with Sarah Soethoudt & René Verberne.
This short video shows two women engaged in a physical altercation in an absurd and humorous manner. One woman represents the mature adult navigating daily life, while the other symbolizes the inner child striving to break free from internal suppression.
TIME TRAVELER II (2024) - Work for Venlo Verlicht
This photo captures an intriguing figure with a face partially hidden. Next to him stands a black suitcase, containing the knowledge he has gathered over time; after all, the figure is a time traveler. The contents of his baggage are a metaphor for wisdom and light, a concept that also appears in religious thought, such as the halo of a Christian saint. The photo was taken in an alley in Venlo. Several versions of the work were printed on paper, cut into pieces, and manually reassembled, creating one coherent whole.
Venlo Verlicht is a special outdoor exhibition that will be on display from September 7, 2024, to February 23, 2025, in the center of Venlo, Arcen, and Steyl. On special fixtures, artists from all walks of life showcase their work on more than 50 lampposts, inspired by the theme of 'light.'
p a r a // e l s
2024
in a parallel life
she is still here
she watches the children
playing in the park there
at the other side
in a parallel world
she is still a child
a child playing
in the park
there at the other side
the night falls like snow
the streets get cold
the little light burns
the mother gives her child
a n i g h t k i s s
the sun rises
the time passes
the room is empty
the little light is g o n e
Residency Westenwind Kracht 12, Horst NL
For the artist residency of Westenwind Kracht 12, I stayed for 12 days in an apartment that will soon be broken down in the Norbertuswijk in Horst (a subcity in the region of Northen-Limburg, NL).
As an outsider and observer, I walked around becoming a part of the everyday life in the neighbourhood.
I arrived there with no expectations, but quickly became fascinated by the different cultures and stories, and especially by the openness of the residents to share their experiences with me, a stranger.
I arrived there with no expectations, but quickly became fascinated by the different cultures and stories, and especially by the openness of the residents to share their experiences with me, a stranger.
I felt like the apartment and also the neighborhood were my home, as if I had never left. Now that the residency is over, it feels like I was never there. Only the images I took prove that I was really there, that I walked around, talked to people and lived with the neighborhood.
The images show that I was there and forever captured a part of life there in this special time of ephemerality.
The photo series Parallels, which was created during my stay in the neighborhood, brings together the different lives of the residents of the Norbertus area. Parallels reveals a poetic picture of the various cultures and realities that exist in the neighborhood, but do not know about each other and therefore run parallel to each other.
