How do you describe your own art practice?
I make drawings, small ones and more than life-size ones, and site-specific installations. I use different materials for these works, but it’s always on paper. I like the laboriousness of paper, the fragility and the sharp edge. The site-specific installations can be made of tape, paper or ink on the wall.
What the works have in common is that there is a sense of reality in it, although you never know exactly where you are looking at. I like to transform abstract forms or simple things such as a pencil line, brushstroke or a fold into something that reminds you to reality. The making process is important as well as the associating eye of the viewer.
What was your first experience with art?
As long as I remember I am drawing and painting. When I was a child I had a book about Monet. There was a zoomed picture of one of the water lilies he made. What you see is just blobs of paint. But when you take more distance, the blobs transform into water lilies. I found that incredibly magical.
What is your greatest source of inspiration?
Thinking about the works I will make in the future.
What do you need in order to create your work?
Time, concentration and a place to show the work.
What are you working on at the moment?
Recently I did quite a lot of exhibitions. Now it’s time to make new drawings and I started working on my first book with an overview of drawings and projects of the last few years.
What work or artist has most recently surprised you?
Last week I visited the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam and saw the exhibition of Hercules Segers. For his time (circa 1590-1640) he was a very experimental artist who made for example several different works with the same etching plate. Also knowing he never travelled further than Belgium, makes me look to his mountain landscapes in a different way.
