Hello mirjamsvideos and welcome to NotRandomArt. The current issue is revolving around the problem of communication and identity. Is there any particular way you would describe your identity as an artist but also as a human being in dynamically changing, unstable times? In particular, does your cultural substratum/identity form your aesthetics?
Hello NotRandomArt! Thank you for having me!
It´s a very interesting and relevant theme! The problem with identity and communication might be that we are focusing too much on communicating an identity we would like others to think we have acquired for ourselves and too little on actually enjoying ourselves and the identity-less joys of this gorgeous planet and of being with other people. t might be nice to (think that) you know who/what you are. It could bring a feeling of calmness, a sense of security. But it is also a real shame to restrain yourself so, to not go to places where people with your identity would not want to be seen, to deny yourself to become certain beautiful things unknown. But we live in a world of words. And there everything is labelled, categorized, stripped from its true being and given an abstract identity. (Which is not entirely bad, because many things would function less easily if this weren't so.) So, for sure I have gathered some labels as well. But I like to think that for each one I have gathered, I have found the opposite one too. Between birth and being 21 years old I have lived in the Netherlands. The Dutch influence is so strong in me that even after 8,5 years of living in Portugal I still come on time for appointments, even too early. But my cultural education was very minimal. I know my grandfather, who passed away before I was born, was a creative man, I think my father could draw well, but I do not remember ever having visited anything art or culture related with my parents. In the years of childhood I did not create the habit to visit galleries, check out art books, to read novels, and until this day, I hardly ever do.
I left Dutch ground to spend 4 wonderful years at the Royal Academy of Fine Art in Antwerp, and maybe my artistic shape was more molded here. But I do see some Dutchness in my work: it's flat shapes (the shape of our land), it's organized or minimal scenes of monocolor (the shape of our cities) and a personal need to speak out. Dutch people love to articulate their opinion, even when not asked for it. After a failed attempt at an art school in the Netherlands, in Belgium they showed me the roots of photography: light, depth of field, angle, composition. And here I had my revolution of no longer screaming to be heard, but to make cute, peaceful, silent works.
Maybe this is what keeps me grounded, gives me peace of mind in these changing, unstable times. Maybe my artistic style is given to me by my parents, who loved peace and quiet, a clean and organized house which was (and this does not seem to match with cleanliness, but oh yes it was!) always filled with the most amazing flora and fauna, up to a mini rainforest in the attic...
Also I do remember loving going against everything that was popular in the Dutch art schools: a lot of talk and no pretty aesthetics, no softness but all edgy. When I look at it now, the Dutch culture is a very masculine culture for me, very rigid, cold as the weather, a life of 8 hours work, then struggling on your bike in rain and snow to go home, eat, watch TV, sleep. But it wasn't all bad. I am very happy to be the owner of a Dutch passport, it has some advantages over others. I am grateful to have grown up there in the days when things were still kind of innocent and fun. When you and your black friend could make jokes about each others differing features at a gay party both wearing pink paper crowns even if one of you was straight, eating some apple pie you had smuggled into the venue and being a vegetarian was an option already 20 years ago. The Dutch culture has certainly shaped me, shaped how I view the world and thereby also my aesthetics. But had I not had nature loving parents, my work would most likely have been very different, had I not gone to that school in Antwerp, mirjamsvideos might never have been born at all, had I not lived in Norway for a while, 'AERO' would have never been captured on film, had I not met Anya, Steven and Armelle, 'lit' would never have been created. In the end, everything shapes you and then you shape everything again.
Would you like to tell us something about your artistic as well as life background? What inspired you to be in this artistic point in your life when you are now?
Yes, I love to tell this beautiful story of my slightly mad parents. My parents had a great love for nature. So great that our home was turned into more or less a zoo. When I was born we had 2 dogs. A cat was added later on. Then I remember weird plants, flesh-eating ones, a rabbit, parrots, turtles, a pound was dug, fish came, frogs arrived, salamanders appeared and dragonflies found their way to the water. I learned how you can catch those, the small ones. Big dragonflies, I was taught, can sting, so you use a paper to direct them of the house again.
An aquarium was build and different fish showed up and then, sea horses, who ate some of their own babies. Me and my brother had hamsters who during the night sneaked out of their cages to hang out together and then we suddenly had lots of hamsters. We had to sell some to the pet shop.
Stranger and stranger animals came and went, but the craziest thing that happened in our house was the mini rainforest in the attic. The floor had been covered with plastic, filled up with earth, some exotic plants were delivered and then: lizards, tiny green frogs and, humming birds. Yes!
So, this was the cause of my 'poor cultural upbringing', who needs that when you have a dog you can talk to, cats to run after, dragonflies to catch and lizards to search for?
This is also the reason why I show so many natural scenes in my works. I love the grandeur of the oceans as much as the cuteness of little beatles crawling on the floor. They make me feel at home, they fill me with wonder, with love and make me forget myself for a moment when looking at them.