2017

‘Birth of Venus’ is a portrait series of young girls, inspired by the famous Venus painting by Botticelli. Within mythology Venus as the Goddess of Love, was also described as a necessary counter force to the male energy. Traditionally Venus was depicted as a mature woman, but in this series young girls take her place. They are standing in a shell-shaped sandbox, that’s made up out of both a blue, and a pink halve as a reference to the balance between the male and female essence. They’re not playing but seem frozen in a moment of reflection. Within mythological telling’s plants grew wherever Venus went. But the backyards in the pictures seem unnatural: the grass and the hedge are made of plastic. Although their surroundings seem pleasant, there seems to be an eerie tension in the air. What does it mean to grow up as a woman in today’s world, and what role is reserved for femininity in these young girls’ future?

Wavelengths is a portrait series of ex-lovers, inspired by pendant paintings from the Late Medieval Period. Both models were asked to draw a line to describe the course of their relationship with each other. These two individual timelines of ups-and-downs are placed in the background of the portraits, forming a kind of emotional landscape. Instead of glorifying a current love connection, which we often tend to do, the Wavelengths series instead can be seen as an ode to past relationships. In all its awkwardness. Within the romantic and monumental setting of the portraits, the sadness that usually accompanies a break-up shines through.