Last week, I gave a guest lecture at Wageningen University and Research (WUR).
We explored how our relationship with the natural world is shaped by both our personal experiences and our collective understanding of nature — informed by cultural traditions such as art, science, literature, and spirituality.

Through drawings, photographs, and excerpts from journals, I shared how physical and mental experiences with landscapes are part of my art practice — to better understand our (bodily) connection with it.

We did a creative writing exercise inspired by a drawing series I’m currently working on: Birth of a Stone, Death of a Thinker. Based on a photo I took in 2023 of an unstable mountain ridge in the Alps, students imagined what it would be like to be one of these stones.
It was wonderful to hear the beautiful, imaginative short stories; from a stone that might end as a heartbroken sand grain, to a stone born from the tears of its mountain parents.

Many thanks to Norbert Peeters for the invitation!

Happy to share that in June and July I will be staying at NKD in Dale, Norway! NKD is an artist residency, located in Dalsfjorden, a narrow fjord 3 hours north of Bergen. I am looking forward to immersing myself in the landscape for two months and to be working on a new series of drawings.

Today is the opening of the group exhibition Vincents Boomwortels at Museum Vincent Van GoghHuis Zundert. Very pleased to be in the good company of Robert Zandvliet, Emmy Bergsma and Diana Roig.

" In 2020, Wouter van der Veen discovered the location in the French village of Auvers-sur-Oise where Vincent van Gogh created his last painting, Tree Roots. The original roots of the Robinia Pseudoacacia tree are still present there.

The owners of this heritage site granted artists access to make studies of the original roots. Emmy Bergsma (1960) traveled there several times to draw. Robert Zandvliet (1970) and Sabina Timmermans (1984) spent two days making sketches which they later elaborated on. Timmermans focused on large detailed studies, while Zandvliet created a monumental four-panel piece in colored monotype.

In 1999, Zandvliet painted a canvas inspired by Tree Roots. This work from the collection of the AkzoNobel Art Foundation will also be showcased at the exhibition. Additionally, there will be a large canvas by Diana Roig (1982) inspired by Van Gogh's last painting."

My contribution for Nothing but Good. I wrote a few words on Van Gogh's profound connection with nature, and how his last work Tree Roots served as a significant inspiration for my own practice in the last few years.

Very related to the upcoming show 'Vincents Boomwortels' at Museum Vincent van GoghHuis Zundert.

"Van Gogh’s final painting Tree Roots, served as the inspiration for a series of charcoal drawings I worked on for a year, called Caressing and Colliding - Sharing the Land.  The location where Van Gogh likely encountered these roots and trunks was discovered the year before my residency at the Vincent van GoghHuis in Zundert in 2021. They were situated on a slope alongside a small street in Auvers-sur-Oise. According to a dendrologist, these roots and trunks were from coppiced trees, a form of forestry where new growth is repeatedly cut back for use. Some argue that Van Gogh expresses the struggle of life and death with this. 

My aim for the residency was to connect his final painting and the place of his death, with the place where Van Gogh's life began, Zundert. While exploring the forests around the Vlaamse Schuur where I stayed, I looked for similar shapes symbolizing the struggle for life and death. Initially, I searched for the coppiced trees I knew were there, but I became increasingly intrigued by the numerous surface tree roots from old beech trees. In my drawings, I envisioned them as bodies shaped by their life-long interaction and entanglement with their surroundings; with soil, wind, water, humans and other organisms. 

I gained a deeper understanding of how Van Gogh perceived nature, due to this residency. With new interest, I revisited his letters and his paintings depicting nature. I was captivated by how Van Gogh's trees transcend mere imagery, seeming to spring to life, imbued with a soul,  as if they are speaking to you. It’s only since then that I read in his paintings the profound connection Van Gogh felt with nature, how he felt at one with it. I strongly resonate with this sensation, and it serves as a significant inspiration for my own artistic practice."

Nothing but good is a blog where invited artists show that they stand in a tradition by expressing their commitment to an inspiring, no longer living predecessor. Nothing But Good Should Be Said Of The Dead. A blog by Michael de Kok, René Korten and Reinoud van Vught.

Last Saturday I shared some of my thoughts on how our relationship with nature is shaped by both our personal experiences with landscapes we find ourselves in, as well as by cultural and historical narratives and perspectives that revolve around the concept of nature.

I regard my artistic practice as a continuous exploration of this ever-evolving relationship. I recently started working on a publication that showcases my art from the past 10 to 15 years, telling the story of this exploration.

The talk for ‘Vrienden Van Abbemuseum' provided a first glimpse into the upcoming book. Many thanks to Florence Husen for inviting me to give this talk, and to all the people who came to listen. Great to see the room was packed, truly enjoyed it!

In may I traveled to Auvers-sur-Oise with Vincent van Goghhuis and Robert Zandvliet. Studying the tree roots Vincent Van Gogh depicted in his last painting.

This last painting was the starting point of a series of drawings I made during my residency at Van Gogh AiR in 2021. With our visit to Auvers-sur-Oise the tree roots will continue to be the inspiration for another series for a show next year.

With Ron Dirven, Eva Geene, Robert Zandvliet and Bart Brosens. Amazing company

I'm happy to share that the bronze sculpture Platanus is now on view at Het Noordbrabants Museum! The edition of sculptures was commisioned by the museum for the Will and Jan van Hoof Kunstprijs Noord-Brabant. One of them is now included in the collection of Het Noordbrabants Museum.

You can go and see the sculpture until May 14.

Last night we had a lovely conversation about our work and our fascination for landscapes and nature. Esther van Rosmalen (Witte Rook) was moderating the conversation with Jessica Skowroneck, Sanne Bax and me. It was a great joy to discover that our ideas and motivations for our work are so related!

From March 25 until May 6 you can visit the exhibition Spring Musings & Muddy Feet at gallery SANAA.

About the exhibition:
"In winter we like to stay inside and tell stories about events past, but spring invites us to go outside and reconnect with the land. Its stories are wilder, more immediate: they tell us of desire and fertility, of growth and the origins of life. From the primordial soup, new living beings sprout once again.

In this exhibition we want to celebrate the abundance of life and simultaneously contemplate the deeper questions that being in this world brings with it. " 

Participating artists: Sanne Bax, Bart Kok, Donglai Meng, Jeanine Vloemans, Jessica Skowroneck and me.

Curated by Jessica Skowroneck

This year jan van hoof galerie exists 30 years!! It is amazing how Will and Jan run this place with so much passion and energy. 💛💛. They celebrate this with three jubilee exhibitions. from March 12 until April 2 you can visit jubilee exhibition II/III.