Annet Gelink Gallery proudly presents Mistakes I’ve Made,the first solo exhibition of Sarah van Sonsbeeck at the gallery. The exhibition shows Van Sonsbeeck settling into her identity as an artist, displaying the themes central to her work: silence, the exploration and appropriation of space, the use of gold, and the seeking of a private environment.
Space, and in particular the private experience of space, is central to Van Sonsbeeck’s work. Van Sonsbeeck, a former architect, plays with the meaning and notion of space. The concept of sound as a marker of territory is central to her practice, taking silence (which she has called ‘anti-sound’) as a building block of private space. Through her practice, she makes apparent how our private world is encroached uponby the outside space, resulting in claustrophobic, negative experiences.
Furthermore, Van Sonbeeckunderlines the importance of privacy and silence as a refuge from these disruptive outside stresses.
Mistake’s I’ve made sees Van Sonsbeeck pairing found objects and basic materials with the ultimate sign
of luxury, wealth and status, namely gold in the form of gold leaf. Visitors entering the show are confronted
by the work Kamyon Gelecek (2011-2013). This ladder forms a re-appropriation of an object seen by the
artist during her residency in Istanbul. A carpenter made it in an attempt to keep cars from parking in frontof his carpentry shop, placing nonsensical signs on it and occupying the (visual) space of the artist’s studio.
For Mistake’s I’ve made the artist decided to copy this street appropriation object and add the text ‘Tren
Gelecek’ (Train Will Come) and Ucak Gelecek’ (Plane will come) in an ongoing range of ‘personal insanity’.
Van Sonsbeeck continues the theme of space in a broader way with Mistakes I’ve Made (2013), mimicking the “accidental creation” (a term borrowed from Bill Bryson) of the universe. Using an existing
work she was unhappy with and gold leaf debris, which are strewn into faraday paint (blocking electromagnetic signals), Van Sonsbeeck takes the theme of space to its outer edge, re-creating the universe.
Also installed in the main space, Dust (2013) is made up out of tiny slivers of gold leaf blown into
the air, creating a fine haze of gold that attaches itself to visitors and the architecture of the gallery. Ultimately, Van Sonsbeeck thus again creates a new universe, one in which art transcends the constrictions of the monetary system, of space and of the traditional notions of artistic expression.