After graduation, there is exhaustion. And then excitement - everything is new and shiny! Then… confusion and greyness with a touch of FOMO. Sparkling again the next day! I am free and savage! Like a baby turtle trying to catch the big waves.*

So life as an artist is the roller coaster we got to know at art school. I already suspected that! But wait, it is only two months ago that I graduated. I made a tiny boat out of water reed and rode on a real wooden roller coaster from 1951 in Helsinki. I saw a kingfisher in Germany and found an abandoned nose, and now, back in The Hague, I am playing around with watermelons for sweet strangers in London. I draw at the kitchentable, on my knees, at the beach and on the road until I will find a new studio. I dream of sculptures. Every now and then I visit friends’ studios. I take notes at exhibitions and of course I am making luminous plans. If this is the Black Hole, then I am fine with it!

* Metaphor taken from an article by Gerda van de Glind on Mister Motley about graduating from art school. Highly recommended (Dutch only): http://www.mistermotley.nl/art-everyday-life/jonge-kunstenaars-als-baby-schildpadden-een-aanmoediging

My very first online residency! At SHELF London (curated by Bex Massey and Sarah Roberts).

SHELF are freakin’ delighted to announce our 10 selected Instagram residents for AUG/ SEPT/OCT 17. 

 #morecloutlesspout #icarriedawatermelon #nobodyputsbabyinacorner 💥🍉

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#LULUMACDONALD

#CAMPBELLMCCONELL

#HENRIETTEVONMUENCHHAUSEN

#ALEXANDERGLASS

#ESTELLEFOURNIER 

#DUNCANHERD

#TOMMILNES

#ELLIEBARRETT

#FLORENCESWEENEY

#JAMIESORENSEN 

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Soon I will graduate.

The Graduation Festival 2017 will take place from Friday 30 June to Thursday 6 July at the Royal Academy of Art, Prinsessegracht 4 in The Hague. Entrance is free.

You can find my presentation Gib dem Affen Zucker on the ground floor at BA.020 at Bleijenburg (backside of the building), behind the one and only curved wall at the academy.

Opening hours are from 4 to 9 p.m. on Friday 30 June, and from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. from Saturday 1 to Thursday 6 July. For further information please see www.kabk.nl.

Gib dem Affen Zucker

Around the corner

in the curve,

between the lines

where the rosemary grows,

and in your breath.

In meiner Muttersprache,

and in tomorrow’s hills

when the night goes fishing.

This body of work is moving.

I am alive and you,

dear stranger, as well.

The pleasure is all mine.

Sometimes you meet someone and know it is a mensch. In other words, a person with a noble character. It is even more special if that person is an exciting artist as well. We had the chance to be your guest and explore your house.

Thank you, Suzanne, for being such a generous host!

Lange Voorhout, The Hague

How do you transport a sculpture which is more than four metres long if you do not have a van? You ask your loved one and go on a walk on a sunny Monday morning. Many people are very good in ignoring a strange object right under their nose. The other group of people, the ones with open smiles, had our sympathy. But the best part of our travel was the night shop cat. I know her well from my daily route. Her eyes grew bigger and bigger. She followed us with her gaze until we went around the corner.