Inspiration English

INSPIRATION

Nature is my great inspiration. It has been running through my life like a continuous thread: the enormous challenge of making yet another surprising objects to wear. With at times unbridled energy I scoop up ideas from a seemingly perpetually bubbling source of inspiration. I always aim to transform my thoughts and feelings into modern, easy-to-wear, extraordinary ornaments: an exciting and challenging process. And while I am making my jewellery, quite often, new ideas for future creations pop up.

Nature in all its fascinating aspects and the elements are frequently the sparkling pivot: the dazzling colours of roses and tulips; the enormous diversity of flowers; rustling bamboo; vast meadows of elegantly waving, bright green grass; the intense blue of cloudless skies; vivid white shreds of cloud against a blue background; reflections in water. Several times I travelled to the Himalayas, the top of the world, and eagerly inhaled Buddhist mysticism. My feelings of amazement about the earth, nature and the infinity of the universe deepened and supplied me with a tremendous amount of new energy.

In the course of 25 years innovative and unique collections arose in a continuous stream. It all started with silkscreen printed lyrics, paper, rubber and perspex on textile. My sculptures and carved works formed the basis of a series of photographs combined with wood and wooden ornaments that were mainly applicable as objects. Another recurrent element is transparency. Cast resin with its glass-like appearance, bright transparent colours and laminate offer a closer look in the stratification of ornaments.

My affection for nature and the desire to adorn myself with natural elements assumed a clear shape in a series of ornaments named ‘as green as grass’. Unfortunately genuine grass is not exactly wearable. Synthetic materials however allowed me to realize nature on the body in a symbolic manner, with ornaments that are perfectly wearable. On the other hand there are ornaments that were deliberately made of transient materials, to underline the temporary nature of certain natural elements. On a regular basis I surrendered myself body and soul to extravagancies such as working with plastic rats: to most of us not exactly the kind of animal you would like to caress. Combined with pearls and worn on the skin as a necklace, their impact on both the wearer and others is quite alienating.

Through the years a wide variety of shapes, contrasts, colours, materials and combinations of materials have succeeded each other. Exploring the possibilities of materials resulted in a continuous stream of solutions and ideas. And so textile, chamois-leather, acrylic plastic, paper, rubber, copper, plastic, electric cord, cast resin, silkscreen printing, laminate, wood, photographs, ceramics, pearls, seashells, stones and branches found their destination in my work. In this book, collections of jewellery alternate with photographs of natural elements, referring to the initial source of inspiration for my work: nature.