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ARTISTIC BIOGRAPHY

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I grew up in the north of the Netherlands, in the land of the black and white Frisian cows. When I finished graphic art school at the age of 20 I decided to go to France to continue my studies in architecture. This is where I started loving black dots and lines on white paper… at a time when we drew lines with ink and the computer wasn’t a tool used in the process of architectural design.
After my studies and 8 years working as an architect between the Netherlands and France, I went “back to basics”. In 2015 I moved to the French mountains to create my own projects, on a different scale, in a different size, with different materials and at my own rhythm. After a small period of experimenting with linoprint on fabric I met Elisabeth Bois who showed me how to embroider. From that moment I completely fell in love with the slow pace of this technique, the fabric, the fibres, the simplicity of movement and the only tool needed to embroider, the needle. I understood at that moment that the world of architects, where every line, thickness, length, surface or volume is justified, blocked me from “let go and just play”. Embroidery liberated my mind and totally changed my vision on life. Today I’m working essentially with fabric, only old and used second hand fabric and always natural materials like cotton, linen or wool. Sometimes I use rusty metal and wires to create 3 dimensional objects, assembled by mixing hard and soft materials. Always working by hand, my favourite tool is still the needle.