Impressions of
lived space

Prints

I am attracted by the possibility to adapt the engraved image during the inking and printing process. This often results in etchings combined with monoprint.

color

Seamotion

Seamotion

Collography, monoprint
30 x 20 cm

Oasis

Oasis

Mixed media
75 x 95 cm

Babel

Babel

Hardground
17 x 13 cm

Color



Turn

Turn

Mixed media
30 x 20 cm

Current

Small scale works created in a flow of ongoing experiments, tryouts and ideas.

Habit hunters

Pencil, acryl, oil
15 x 21 cm

Drawings

Shimmering field

Shimmering cricket field

Pastel, ink
42 x 30 cm

Black forest

Flexible

Flexible

Pastel, ink
42 x 30 cm

Paintings

Stillife bottles

Stillife bottles

Oil on wood
60 x 80 cm

Stillife bottles

Stillife bottles

Oil on wood
60 x 80 cm

Color

Residencies

A residency is the best way to look at a place from a fresh point of view. It creates freedom and allows the senses to achieve a higher state of awareness. By moving through the landscape I gather strong impressions and insights which I combine later on. This results in layered and / or composed artworks.

My first residencies I organized myself by doing voluntary work at alienate places in nature. For example Säffle in Sweden and Habergy in Wallonia (Belgium). Later on I did 'real' artist-in-residencies in Alkmaar (Netherlands) and Schwedt (Germany). I managed to stay in Gotland (Sweden) by raising the crowdfunding project 'Graphic wonderland'.

When choosing a spot I prefer 'boring' places at first sight. As there is no entertainment or distraction, the relationship with the landscape itself becomes even stronger.

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On demand

My approach to reality is also an invitation to share it with others. During the workshop people are encouraged to visualize a place by their perception: they draw it from their point of view. This is often called 'subjective mapping'.

Afterwards we gather the drawings into a composed image. All together the drawings show how the place is percieved by a group of participants. The final composition invites the public as well to question its perception of the environment.

In best case it helps to be more attentive about the approaches and meaningful layers a place has to offer. It can reinvestigate our relationship with reality and encourage an open minded attitude to take part in it.

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workshop zermat

Workshop etching

Individual results by participants
21 x 30 cm

workshop zermat

Graphic wonderland

Final panels
Compositions with selected results
270 x 150 cm

workshop zermat

About

Landscapes and situations in my immediate environment inspire me. By being fully present I can surrender to the events and emotions they evoke. Instead of taking one fixed position, I am moving through the landscape. The impressions I collect become part of a composition that I put together later on. The result is very close to the image of the landscape I carry in my memory.

To integrate emotions and sensations such as smell and sound into my work, I need a degree of abstraction. This can be reduced from visual reality. It can also emerge spontaneously from within ('synesthesia') after a period of intense experience.

I studied graphic design first. Afterwards I did a postgraduate in social and cutural anthropolgy where I encountered the work of Tim Ingold, Susan Sontag, René Devisch ('endogenous abstraction'), Edward Soja ('lived space') and many others. Philosophy and literature helped me to feel stronger about my approach to reality.

I took lessons in printmaking and painting to develop my skills as an artist. I feel connected to abstract art and impressionism. Nowadays I am mostly inspired by Georges Braque (abstraction), Thea Gvetadze (tension), David Hockney (diverging perspective) and emerging African fashion designers (colourful patterns).

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Curriculum

Born in Antwerp, 1979.

Studied graphic design and anthropology.

Studies

  • 1997 - 2001: Graphic design, KASK Antwerp & Luca School of Arts, Brussels
  • 2001 - 2003: Postgraduate Social & Cultural Anthropology, KU Leuven
  • 2021 - 2023: Educative Master Fine Arts, AP Hogeschool, Antwerp

Additional studies

  • 2006 - 2011: Printmaking, RHoK Academy Brussels
  • 2019 - 2022: Painting, KASK Academy Antwerp

Residencies, projects and expositions

I participated to artist-in-residencies in Sweden, Holland, Belgium and Germany. Since 2011 I did group and solo expositions, often showcasing the work I made during a residency.
I realized printed editions for Grafisch Atelier Alkmaar, Gallery Jacques Gorus, Museum Plantin-Moretus and Foundation Veerle Rooms.

Workshops and teaching

In Museum Plantin-Moretus, Antwerp, I started to give workshops printmaking since 2011. Later on I gave workshops on other locations in combination with a project or residency.
For Zermatt, Antwerp, I developed a new concept, allowing people to participate in the creation of a shared Graphic wonderland.
Nowadays I am teaching webdesign to young adults in CVO Antwerp.

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Biotope

Antwerp, Belgium

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