Artist Statement
In the 21st century, all art needs to say something and be engaged. We want a big impact, to change the world for the better. So we need to be louder, stronger, bigger; we need shock value. Everyone wants to say something and be heard. It’s easy to join the mass and go for the Grand Narratives, the more voices the better. Disregard all aesthetical rules, be controversial, be provocative and maybe you will be heard. Art is used as a medium for the activist agenda, rather than being a goal in itself. Art is politics. Artists are activists. We have entered the post-post-modernist era, where there is no individualism anymore. We are all part of the same crises in the world. You need to stand up for yourself, and the privileged need to stand up for the unprivileged. In a dying world that needs change, a lot of artists are shouting. I want to leave the shouting up to them; I want to talk.
Photo by Alma van Maasakker
People nowadays are very focused on the “big picture”: big topics, big meanings, grand gestures. I want to focus on the smaller picture and keep things more personal. Human connections, personal struggles and mental issues are themes that come forward in my work. I use my work to express myself and to process my emotions. Simultaneously, the other way around, I use my emotions and personal experiences as inspiration for my work. Using humanity as an inspiration and a goal, I translate stories, life experiences, emotions, and mental issues into art to connect back to the audience. My goal is to shed light on topics that I feel are not talked about a lot, and for people to find recognition in my work. I’m a woman with a lot of experiences with mental illness, and that also becomes apparent in my work. I don’t disagree with activist artists, I would just rather keep it smaller, up close, and personal. I don’t like to see my work as ‘engaged art’. My work is engaged through the themes it includes.
A few themes I have worked with in the past are insecurities in physical appearance or in human connections such as friendships and love interests, injustice towards women, and mental illnesses like anxiety and depression. I put a lot of myself in my art, only literally putting myself in it when necessary. My work consists of video, photography, installations, and text. As aforementioned, I get inspired by personal experiences and use that as a starting point. Different stories need different media. I try to not restrict myself to one specific medium but rather see where each story takes me.
When working with text, I tend to keep my wording specific. I want to write exactly what I have to say; my texts are where I’m most personal. However, even though my texts are very personal, they’re still applicable to other people’s experiences as well. In this way I believe people can resonate with my work the most. When working on visual art, I like using photography as stylistic starting point. From there I develop the photographs into prints, sculptures, or installations. I value aesthetics and rather go for less is more to stay closer to the topics and themes in my work. This leads me to research the essence of different media. In this search for the essence of each medium I use, like analog photography, I add as much personal touch as I can. This has also led me to keep experimenting with new techniques and developing them into my own style. Examples of this are pinhole photography and making ceramic glace out of ash from cigarettes or wood chips. Once I’ve developed a technique and made it my own, I add it to my “skill archive” and come back on it whenever a project leads me to this medium again.
To conclude, my art is more focused on the content of the work, rather than on a specific medium. Contrary to the art world as it exists right now with all its grand gestures and activist topics, I want to keep my work personal and individualistic. I want to create art that is not only aesthetically pleasing but also emotionally charged. My goal is to express myself and for people to find recognition and consolation in this expression. But most importantly, I want to bring more humanity into the art world.