Sustainable photo printing and framing
In my search for more sustainable ways of living and solutions to minimize my impact, I am also researching my own art practice. This Sunday at the Volkshotel Photography Market I will sell prints on Hahnemuhle Hemp paper. I don’t want to buy new frames, so I will reuse frames as much as I can. […]
An exhibition about ‘The Man’: is this still relevant?
In december I will be part of a group exhibition of Stichting KEG entitled ‘The Man’. When the curators asked me to write an introduction about this topic, the question immediately arose: why dedicate an exhibition solely to people of the male sex? What is the relevance and what can we say about this topic? […]
Project: in 67 hours by train from Amsterdam to Turkey
I’m traveling by train from Amsterdam to Turkey in about 67 hours to attend my sister’s wedding. Because of the climate, I don’t want to travel by plane. About the project I use the train journey to reflect on the personal dilemmas regarding the climate. What do I give up on a personal level to […]
A journey into the darkness to find the light
Often the world is too much for me and I can’t think beyond the swirling thoughts in my head. I think twenty times about every step I take and every thought goes through my head a hundred times more. Right, wrong, right, wrong. Really wrong. Really right. Error. Error. Error. Stop! There is no right […]
What it means to stare at sun glitter
Have you ever looked closely at the sparkling light formed when sunlight reflects from water waves? It looks like little lights or diamonds, or maybe like little fireflies. In order to really experience the world around you, you have to be able to pause. But how can we do this with all the stuff happening […]
How an artwork changed my life
Can an artwork change your life? Yes it can. Read what happened to me after seeing an artwork about the history of oil made by artist Sandra M Sawatzky. Going from a climate shock to redesigning my purpose in life to new thoughts about moral responsibility and our power to act. Woken up by an […]
Christina A. West: looking at a naked man
Christina A. West is an artist based in the US who makes figurative sculptures and site-sensitive installations. About two years ago she started focussing her work on the male body as a way to empower and better understand the female gaze. Her project names ‘Looking at a naked man’ and ‘She looks’ give a clear […]
Why we should free the penis from shame
The penis is a very sensitive subject. As a symbol of masculinity and male sexuality, it plays a big role in male shame. It seems to be very weird, inappropriate, uninteresting or frightening to look at an artwork that contains a penis. This is in stark contrast to the vagina, the female sex that pleases […]
The female gaze on the male nude in art: the missing piece
Why is the female gaze on the male nude completely absent in art museums? It has been more than thirty years since the Guerilla Girls made the statement “Do women have to be naked to get into the Met. Museum?” but it seems like gender equality in museums is still a long way off. Male […]