About
Monster; meaning a being on the margin of society, an ‘Other’ to a ‘Self’, a being that defies categorisation and lives beyond borders; ambiguous, leaky, unruly - the in-between, the composite, the chimera. Monsters are approached, not as a being to fear, but as harbingers of possibility. For while they threaten the status quo, unruly bodies can also be a site of imagination and transformation. By drawing on monsters we can lean on their strength, their uncontainability.
Textile, to me, is imbued with learning from my mother, with every stitch I see my mother’s hands in mine, I Become her. The labour of hand stitching forces a slow process, every time the needle hits the cloth is intentional, nurturing. This technical choice highlights the softer side of the work, contrasting with the depiction of monsters, with repulsive squirming worms. Cloth also refers to the home, to the domestic sphere and the bedsheets I sleep under. This is where performance is suspended, where mutants and deviants alike can exist otherwise.
Thesis Abstract:
I have been working towards a gentle, a tender monstrosity. While perceived by some as monstrous, this being has kin, has love. If perception is the basis of making monsters, then monsters must perceive one another as kin. At the same time I will be critical of adopting the label of ‘monster’ as this still centres and upholds a normative idea. Monsters are only monstrous in comparison to something that is ‘normal’. However, there is a political power in consciously positioning oneself on the margin. If the centre will perceive you as an outsider regardless, perhaps that should be mined for the power to be found there. I will be practicing monstrosity through poetry and intentionally illegible writing. The text is a monster in itself.
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Physical copies can be printed and hand-bound upon request for 25 euros.
Exhibitions
Het Kunstgemaal
Amsterdam, NL
Galerie Ron Mandos
Amsterdam, NL
Concordia
Enschede, NL
AKI ArtEZ graduation show
Enschede, NL
2021-2026
AKI ArtEZ Academy of Art & Design, Enschede, NL
Bachelor Fine Arts All Space & Sculpture
2018-2019
Willem de Kooning Academy, Rotterdam, NL
Preporatory Course
2022
Masterclass Fashion & Fine Arts by Bas Kosters
masterclass festival amsterdam
2019
Masterclass painting by Carla Klein
Scholen in de Kunst, Amersfoort, NL