As an artist, I am fascinated by the human body. It is a subject that has been part of art history for centuries, but I still have the feeling that there are elements that can still be discovered or rediscovered.
As a child, I was constantly told that I looked too overweight. It made me aware of how my body was perceived by others. I started comparing my body with the bodies of others to see what a good example of a healthy body might look like.
Not that long ago, I paid my first visit to the Louvre, and since I was already fascinated by ideal - athletic bodies, the sculptures of the ancient Greeks and Romans were a must-see for me. But what I saw were not the ideal, perfect bodies that the heroes and Gods of old were supposed to represent, they were in fact imperfect. Fragments of their bodies have been lost throughout history, never to be seen again, like an arm, a leg or even their head.
People will still claim that the bodies of these statues should be considered divine, perfect bodies, but if they were seen in today's society, the first impressions would not be those of 'perfect bodies'.
Starting from this concept, I investigate the fragments that compose the human body. I start with these sculptures and interpret how I see these fragments or how they can be interpreted as something else, but still be seen as a fragment of the human body. For example, I work a lot on the subject of the torso, because to me the torso is the essence of a human body (type). It is also the core from which the human figure is constructed, because it is connected to all "fragments".
Because this is an " excessively used " concept within art history, I keep it traditional by constructing my sculptures in clay. Within my practice, the creation process is very important. To sculpt these works of art, I use my own body, which is my working tool. I create masks directly on my face, throw the clay from a distance or bump and kick it until I see a recognizable shape.