home	About my work
	Twenty years ago I chose to enter the world of theatre as a stage and costume designer in Amsterdam. Today's projects include depicting the different roles of the human psyche into visual art. What experiences caused my creativity to study these themes? The point of departure for my vocation began with finding the way for an interaction between the two different disciplines, art&design in combination with theatre&dance. How to generate an effect that each one, individually, could not reach?
	The objects of textile I designed for the theatre were not merely costumes. At first a lot of the structures were created out of individual segments in progressively greater shapes, with a wooden, aluminium or fibreglass skeleton. Their form being rhombular, triangular or circular, connected together with an elastic material. These designs became often the point of departure for a performance. The dancer influences and changes the shape and vice versa, the form defines the movement of the dancer. Theatre critics described my designs in their reviews as independent objects, moving in such unconventional ways that they determined the choreography and the story for the greater part of the performance.
	Gradually my way of working became more autonomous and effectively influenced the costume designs to develop even more as independent objects, taking the leading role in my choreographies. The step to the making of choreographies was not that big, only the human being as material was new in my designing. Thus in my third choreography Zwart/Wit, the dancer was completely in service of the object, even invisible during the performance. Departing from the design, in this choreography, the movements were completing the ultimate form. The exploration of combining textile as method of expression with the human body as material deepened in my cooperation with visual artists in the creation of multidisciplinary projects. Through this work I also became inspired to study the role of the human psyche and the process of mental and emotional change.
	In the last couple of years, my work has developed and evolved more into visual arts. The human being still plays an important role in my installations. Unlike before, when the physical presence of the dancer was significant to my work, now the absence of the human figure is part of the installation: an empty coat, hats, masks. Steels of material were used in my installation Not a coat to symbolize the different layers in which our personality is veiled for protection or adaptation, illustrating the development of our personality as we grow up. Another installation Mind your hat focuses on the fact that our identity changes continually. In what way and to what extend can the human being adjust himself, both internally and externally? Can we choose this behaviour or do we behave out of habit and conventions, or by the cultural programming from parents and media? My work is about selective perception and choice; the possibility of choosing one's attitude and reactions to the world. The choice of letting in impressions and their impact on the mind. And what is the role of images in this process?
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