Statement
I explore the concept of chance and create kinetic artworks and light installations from experimental research into materials, movement and mechanics. I'm looking for a point where the physical sculpture and its projections of light into space, intersect. A complex 'whole' is formed, and boundaries between the individual shapes and forms seem to dissappear.
My work is 'aleatoric', or based in chance - I do not have full control over what happens in the work. An important starting point is the idea of a planetarium. A mechanical construction that models the cosmos. Masses orbit other masses, constrained but free. Endlessly variable, never the same. The quality of the motion is important, it is calm, smooth, natural. The motion in my works is physically the same kind of motion that produces music, or sound, in a musical instrument. I work with this medium as well, for instance in the exhibition Motives/Motifs where the works themselves create a kind of soundscape by moving and colliding.
My background in (mechanical) engineering asserts itself in my practice, informing my methods and providing me with the necessary tools to produce what I have in mind. However, my work ultimately originates from experiments, random finds and accidents. I am driven by curiosity and the desire to explore. For each of my works, only about half is engineered: the rest is discovered.
Interview
Read an online interview (2021) with Root Gallery here.
Bio
In 2020 I had a solo exhibition in Guangzhou, China following a 3-month residency, and exhibited a commissioned installation during Art Rotterdam Week 2020 at The New Current. For these activities I received project grants from CBK Rotterdam. In previous years I have exhibited, among others, at NEST in The Hague (twice) and at Gallery Wit in Wageningen.
I initially studied Mechanical Engineering at TU Delft (graduating with a MSc in 2008). I ended up, among others, spending 6 months teaching an android to speak at Ishiguro robotics lab in Osaka, Japan, and working at the TU Delft Biorobotics lab developing real-world applications for robotic arms and manipulators. While working as a consultant, I resumed my art practice and finally applied to the Royal Academy in The Hague (KABK) where I graduated with a BA in Fine Art in 2017.

Photography by Sophie de Vos
Back to Top