"Paper is a medium through which form is created, a material that offers both structure and flexibility; I give it form but also trust how the material responds.
The way I form paper is focused on capturing the essence of an object. I do not recreate it, but instead rediscover it within the context of the world I am creating. While working on an object, the form that stands opposite it gradually takes shape in my mind. It is a process of discovery and development, where each step builds upon the previous one.
The process of building is time-consuming and complex, requiring careful consideration of proportions. Yet, it also offers support through the time it takes to arrive at a result. It becomes a language in which the structure gradually reveals itself. Working with paper is, therefore, also a contemplation of time and a reflection on the making process itself.
While some works retain their physical form as sculptures, most of my works are constructed as staged scenes; carefully organised and designed, much like a film set or a theatre backdrop. They are facades, fragments, designed with the camera's viewpoint in mind. These setups only fully come to life when captured by the camera."
Tap to enlarge
"Paper is a medium through which form is created, a material that offers both structure and flexibility; I give it form but also trust how the material responds.
The way I form paper is focused on capturing the essence of an object. I do not recreate it, but instead rediscover it within the context of the world I am creating. While working on an object, the form that stands opposite it gradually takes shape in my mind. It is a process of discovery and development, where each step builds upon the previous one.
The process of building is time-consuming and complex, requiring careful consideration of proportions. Yet, it also offers support through the time it takes to arrive at a result. It becomes a language in which the structure gradually reveals itself. Working with paper is, therefore, also a contemplation of time and a reflection on the making process itself.
While some works retain their physical form as sculptures, most of my works are constructed as staged scenes; carefully organised and designed, much like a film set or a theatre backdrop. They are facades, fragments, designed with the camera's viewpoint in mind. These setups only fully come to life when captured by the camera."
Tap to enlarge
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Despite the limitations of paper/cardboard as a material, one can see the richness of the possibilities opened up by this medium, a world to scale is cut and pasted with virtuosity.
The typical characteristics of the working material and its limited applications create an equivalence that makes all representations more homogeneous. It is also fragile and fleeting.
The artist imitates and fantasizes, manipulates and depicts things that are familiar to her. The objects undergo the metamorphosis of transformation into a new existence in another skin of paper.
To what extent can reality be imitated? Perhaps making a scale model of reality is the best way to come to grips with this fundamentally elusive phenomenon. In architecture, models help to clarify structures and provide spatial insight. A scale model of a building provides a more compact and therefore often more powerful image than the building itself, which cannot be grasped at a glance. A scale model also eliminates unnecessary detail. It seeks to represent the essence.
by Jan de Nys, curator Stedelijk Museum Aalst, Belgium
from the publication: 'Contemporary art at scale'
published to accompany the exhibition as part of the 2008 Paper Biennial, Stedelijk Museum, Aalst (B)