My theme is man, his vulnerability and me being a woman in this world. I am looking for the fringes of life; those I find interesting. It’s a fascination for the peculiarities of the human body and mind.
I research the covering of the body and the skin in different manners by means of media such as video, photoworks and collages. Covering has different meanings for me, it says something about cultural identity, but also about covering up matters.
I often use the body as raw material to induce emotions, ideas, desires and fears. A lot of the work is related to skin or meant as skin. The work is ambivalent and somewhat autobiographical. I am not looking for perfection, but I look for the beauty in the imperfection: to attract and repulse…
In my artistic practice, hands often play a central role. Hands are sensitive—sometimes moving, sometimes unsettling—and they can convey and reinforce a message. My knowledge of sign language has contributed to a deep fascination with hands.
Since 2020, I have been printing my subjects, scratching into the photographs, perforating them, and rubbing them with pastel. I call my approach ‘iconoclasm’: a visual rebellion. It is a process that is both meticulous and radical. The works are soft and tactile; at the same time, they are visibly altered.
For me, the scratching symbolizes the traces that life leaves behind—lines as memories, inscribed on a skin of paper. By filling them with soft pastel tones such as pink and red, I soften their sharpness. These colors allude to the vulnerability of the body, where every experience leaves its mark.
Foundation Tijdelijk Zicht
From 2004 to 2018 I carried out various projects i.c.w. Caroline de Roy with our foundation. The starting-point of the projects were socially engaged to the subject matter. The subject stems always from a personal interest which is investigated in an anthropological manner. The projects were site-specific and the information and the input of all people involved was the source from which an artwork is realized, revealing the subject inside out.