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 I think of my work as a play with lines, space and openness. I transform strappings from steel, naturally heavy and strong, in thin fragile lines and liberate them in space. My aim is to create structures that intrigue and trigger positive associations. By using only the essential to express, I try to overcome gravity and heaviness in a playful interaction with space and material.

In visual language I feel related to other Dutch artists, like the NUL movement, that opted for repetition, seriality and directness of everyday materials to express a sober approach to the world.

My motivation is a more cheerful one. I was always attracted to the Moorish/Arabic way of expressing the divine. Islam does not use realistic representation of god or a human being. Instead it prefers geometric compositions, stylized vegetation and infinitive repetitions to symbolize motion, life and growth.

Since I moved to southern Spain in 2017, I am steeped in the mix of Islamic and Christian artistic tradition, visible in the Spanish Mudéjar architecture. I discovered that Mudéjar is a degeneration of the Arabic word “mudayyan” meaning: “those who may stay”. This makes me wonder if the Mudéjar style is an early positive example of a symbioses between Islamic and Christian culture.

The apparently infinite structures of my work, which remind of fractals, DNA and the growing processes of nature can be interpreted as a celebration, as an ode to life itself.