What core concepts are you exploring right now, and how do they connect to your chosen medium and creative process?
At this time I explore the possibillities of breaking through the background board that I build everything on in order to get more interaction between the representation and the empty space this breaktrough causes. It raises the question of how much space can I leave open without losing the coherence of the whole. Before I start I never know exactly were I’m going. I have some vague idea about where I want to go, no more. The artwork develops step by step in a way that might be compared with how a painter builds up an abstract painting. Every step taken is the logical answer to the previous ones.
When working with pieces of driftwood as a medium, space can be left open between several loose pieces of wood that will become parts of the whole. These open spaces can partly be filled with houses and partly stay open, so one can look through. Being able to see through open parts should stimulate curiosity about what is behind it. I guess that's what I aim for, to make people curious to enter my fantasy world. One needs to approach closely to be able to grasp all the details. That's why pictures of my work never give a proper impression of the real thing. many details in the deeper parts get lost in the shadows. Using a flash would spoil the whole atmosphere.
How does your process typically unfold—from early intuition or planning to the finished work?
I never make sketches up front. That wouldn’t even be possible. Either ideas spontanouasly pop up in my mind or I get inspired by the things I find in nature. Sometimes a new idea logically develops during the process of making an artwork because of things I discover in the process. Another possibillity is letting things that used to be details become more important in later work. F.i. at some point I started using stairs as a connection between houses. Later stairs became much more important parts in numerous artworks.
In what ways do you see your work in dialogue with the world around you socially, spiritually, aesthetically?
We live in a world that is falling apart more and more. The climate is changing, glaciers melt, storms get heavier, wildfires get larger etc. In my art I use a lot of materials, mainly left overs from trees, were once part of life. This way of working is a way of recycling, showing how beauty can still be made out of dead worthless things. This phenomenon could also stand for hope. Apart from that, the things that I find washed ashore often are very beautiful and inspiring. I only need to integrate them into my art.
WHAT IS THE MESSAGE—OR RANGE OF MEANINGS—YOU HOPE VIEWERS ENCOUNTER IN YOUR WORK?
Too many people make the mistake of thinking they need to know a lot about art to understand or appreciate it. Every form of art is a form of communication. Yet, for a long time, I didn't know what it actually was that I was communicating myself. I make surroundings, villages, that seem uninhabited, but the use of laundry lines, pots, pans etc. are traces of life that show people are actually living there.
The fact is that many people appreciate my work. Their enthusiastic response is proof to me that they've picked up on what I've communicated, what I've put into my work, my intuition and gut feelings. I don't work from deep intellectual thoughts or theories, but purely from the heart. Every choice I make and every visual act comes from deep inside. That place is the same place where the appreciation of those who like my work comes from. That's not as much the intellect, that's the soul. No previous knowledge is needed here.
Which work (or series) marks a pivotal moment in your development, and WHAT’S YOUR DREAM PROJECT—SCALE, COLLABORATORS, CONTEXT?
I guess and hope my last work, Interrupted, may mark a new period in the way as from now more open spaces may be used that haven’t been seen like this before this artwork.
My absolute dream would be to have a solo exhibition in the Stedelijk museum in Amsterdam or another well known museum for modern art. I imagine making a huge artwork in one of the rooms, crossing the corner from one wall to another like I once did with the artwork ‘Metropolis.’
I think it would be interesting to see how my art changed and developed during the years. But in fact I guess this is more of a fantasy then a dream. I wouldn't really know how to handle the attention it would possibly give me.
CAN YOU SHARE ANYTHING ABOUT CURRENT WORKS IN PROGRESS?
From time to time I go to a certain beach, knowing in this specific place often very interesting organic things like driftwood, roots of different kinds of trees etc. were washed ashore. The last time my ‘harvest’ was really extraordinary. It caused a change in my work that was more of a challenge and made me see yet more possibillities to work new ideas out. The pictures of ‘The making of Interrupted’ show how step by step this artwork was made. My next idea is to not use a flat board for a basis but a cylinder on which I want to fasten pieces of driftwood for rocks, with open space between them that will partly be filled with houses, partly left open.