Landlocked Words

This exhibition at SECONDroom Antwerp featured a series of soft sculptures that explore the border between a comfortable harness and a strangling corset. It’s a personal body of work, that nevertheless clearly links to my earlier works and even repurposes some older editions and elements. The exhibition was supported by Stroom Den Haag.

Central to the installation is the work Connected but not Stuck (Waves), a 3 by 5 meter installation made out of repurposed second hand mens shirts turned into lashing straps. Erasing both the function of an office dress shirt (dressing the body, signaling the relation to a certain group of workers) and the lashing straps (tightly strap objects to remain in their position), the work relates to both body and space. The texts on the straps are variations on the title of the work and highlight the tension between being embraced and being stiffled.

Featured as well are three pieces from the Sibling series, sculptures that combine quilted blankets and harnesses, lashing straps and various personal photographs and details.