About

As a visual artist, I’m interested in how we perceive, represent, and assign meaning to what we call 'nature'. This interest is rooted in my childhood, growing up among plants in my parents’ nursery. That early, intuitive connection to plants - within a highly cultivated context - forms the starting point for my artistic exploration of the ever-evolving relationship between humans and nature. Through drawing, I aim to deepen our felt understanding of the natural world. I see drawing as both a physical and meditative act, one that sustains a long-term relationship with a landscape.

My work emerges from physical and sensory engagement with landscapes, using observation as a form of connection. Photographs, sketches, and journals gathered on-site serve as the basis for large charcoal drawings. By extracting natural forms from their original context and rendering them as sculptural, bodily presences, the drawings begin to resemble living beings more than traditional landscapes. It's an invitation to see nature not as scenery, but as something to engage with through body and mind.

The way we view nature is shaped not only by physical encounters with landscapes but also by cultural narratives. Our personal experiences are influenced by collective images of nature passed down through art, literature, and science. For example, the Romantic notion of ‘untouched nature’ has historically contributed to a persistent separation between humans and the natural world—a concept now critically questioned in ecological and posthumanist thought. Through my work, I aim to cultivate a mindful presence with the natural world, reimagining landscapes as living, relational entities.

Texts

Alles heeft een ziel, written by Esther van Rosmalen for Witte Rook (nl)
Bodies for possible landscapes, written by Linda Köke for the publication of Coeur the Parisienne at De Cacaofabriek 
The trees are inviting the wind, written by Alex de Vries for mister motley (nl)
Publication The trees are inviting the wind Interviews with all participating artists of the exhibition
Interview by Zippora Elders for publication The trees are inviting the wind (nl)
Romanticism in the Antropocene, BE magazine #23 (Künstlerhaus Bethanien), written by Valeria Schulte-Fischedick
Timmermans palmt de natuur in, article Brabants Dagblad by Gerrit van den Hoven 
Monstera Deliciosa, Rebecca Nelemans

Copyright © 2020 Sabina Timmermans. All rights reserved.