Artwork

Art is about being in touch with the unspoken and visualizing the forms of reality that go beyond our normalized way of seeing. Guided by my intuition, I experience the freedom to recreate the world I perceive through sensations and impressions.

I believe that everyone can perceive these by being fully present and aware of what is happening in and around us. We have the choice to rearrange them into new compositions that enhance our vision and refresh our relationship with the environment.

Please feel free to scroll through my work and contact me for more info.

prints | drawings | paintings | experiments

prints

I love the slow crafting process of etching in combination with the spontaneity of monoprint. It allows to transform the material objects into new forms during the inking process. This way the engraved image can respond to the inspiration of the moment.

Seamotion

Collography, monoprint
28 x 21 cm

Timeless

Monoprint
30 x 42 cm

Oasis

Mixed media
80 x 100 cm

Harbour

Hardground, aquatint
15 x 20 cm

Storm

Hardground, drypoint, monoprint
24 x 30 cm

Dizzyingly heigh

Hardground, drypoint, monoprint
18 x 24 cm

Being tHere, tree

Hardround, drypoint, monoprint
24 x 18 cm

Being tHere, hills

Softground, drypoint, monoprint
24 x 18 cm

Smell

Drypoint, monoprint (series of 4)
16 x 29 cm

Between hills

Hardground, drypoint, monoprint
80 x 60 cm

Wild flowers

Drypoint, monoprint
12 x 15 cm

Wonderland

Mixed media
118 x 78 cm

Introverted

Monoprint
35 x 50 cm

Two figures

Photopolymere, softground, drypoint
21 x 30 cm

Stream

Aqua wash, drypoint, monoprint
32 x 23 cm

drawings

It is the most immediate and fragile way to elaborate my ideas. I like to use contrasting techniques such as ink and soft pastel.

Shimmering cricket field

Ink, soft pastel
42 x 30 cm

Flexible

Oil pastel, aquarel
50 x 40 cm

Gotland

Pencil, aquarel
30 x 21 cm

paintings

It took me a while to translate my visual language from printmaking to painting. I usually start with acrylic paint and move on to oil paint. I developed a degree of abstraction in my work to integrate spontaneous fragments and sensory impressions into the composition.

Stillife bottles 1 (series of 6)

Oil on wood
60 x 80 cm

Stillife bottles 2 (series of 6)

Oil on wood
60 x 80 cm

Stillife bottles 3 (series of 6)

Oil on wood
60 x 80 cm

Black forest

Acrylic, soft pastel
21 x 15 cm

Stream

Oil
20 x 33 cm

Basf

Acrylic
42 x 30 cm

experiments

Works created in a flow of tryout and ideas.

Drawing, painting
15 x 21 cm

Residencies

A residency is a great way to look at a place from a fresh point of view. It creates freedom and invites the senses to achieve a higher level of awareness.

In the beginning I organized residencies myself by doing voluntary work at alienate places in nature. For example at Säffle in Sweden and Habergy in Wallonia (Belgium).

Afterwards I did 'real' artist-in-residencies at Alkmaar (Netherlands) and Schwedt (Germany).

I was able to stay in Gotland (Sweden) thanks to the crowdfunding project 'Graphic wonderland'.

For my work I prefer 'boring' places at first sight. When there is a lack of entertainment and distraction, my connection with the landscape becomes even stronger.

First I gather impressions during walks and bike tours. Later I integrate them into a bigger composition.

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On demand

My approach to reality is also an invitation to share it with others. Therefore I transformed the concept of 'Graphic Wonderland' into a participatory project.

During the workshop people come and draw their impressions of a specific place. Then we merge the drawings into a large composition. The result shows how passers-by or residents experience the neighbourhood.

The project works especially well for neglected places or places with a bad reputation, as it gives them a fresh, new identity. People are invited to question their perception of reality and to consider the role they can play in it.

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Workshop

Participants
Children in the neighbourhood

Prints

Drypoint
21 x 30 cm

Panels

Digital print
270 x 150 cm

About

I studied graphic design and anthropology. Afterwards I took courses in printmaking and painting.

To integrate emotions and sensory experiences such as smell and sound into my work, I developed a degree of abstraction.

The abstract elements are derived from visual reality. They also result from inner processes that arise spontaneously.

Anthropologists and philosophers like Tim Ingold, Susan Sontag, René Devisch and Edward Soja helped me to strengthen my approach to reality.

I feel connected to abstract art and impressionism. Nowadays I am mostly inspired by Georges Braque, Thea Gvetadze, David Hockney and emerging African fashion designers.

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artist statement

Landscapes in my immediate environment inspire me. By being fully present I can surrender to the events that occur and the emotions they evoke. Rather than taking one fixed position, I perceive while moving through the landscape.

The impressions I gather become part of the composition that I put together. The result is very close to the image of the landscape I carry in my memory.

In order to integrate emotions and sensory experience such as smell and sound into my work ('synesthesia'), I incorporate a certain degree of abstraction. This may be derived from visual reality. It can also emerge spontaneously from within ('endogenous abstraction’) after a period of intense experience.

I am fascinated by the transformation that a place undergoes when you are present with attention and take the time to interact. I approach space as an encounter that can unfold in all directions.

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curriculum

Born in Antwerp, 1979

Studies

Master Graphic design
KASK Antwerp, Sint Lucas, Brussels
Postgraduate Anthropology
KU Leuven
Educative Master Fine Arts
AP Hogeschool, Antwerp

Additional studies

Printmaking
RHoK Academy Brussels
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.

Teaching

In Museum Plantin-Moretus, Antwerp, I started to give workshops printmaking. Later on I gave workshops on other locations in combination with a project or a residency.

For Zermatt, Antwerp, I developed a new concept, allowing people to participate in the creation of a shared Graphic wonderland.

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