06—27.06.2024
Trails of Terra
Presentation by Filip Vervaet, Ster Borgman, Hannah Kiefmann and Roeland Rooijakkers.
Trails of Terra arises from the process-based exchange between artists Filip Vervaet, Ster Borgman, Hannah Kiefmann, and Roeland Rooijakkers, initiated by Kunstpodium T. Sharing an interest in the interconnection between humans and their environment, these artists explore the crossovers between man-made and natural materials and processes in their work.
On this occasion, Off the Grid is transformed into a ‘landscape laboratory’, where these four distinct artistic practices meet and interact with each other and with Cas-co’s architecture. From June 6 to June 27, the OTG space will be populated by new works and other residue offering insight into their creation processes, often resembling alchemical transformations.
About the artists
The scenographic transformation of spaces around Filip Vervaet’s sculptures intends to create parallel worlds that you can physically enter and in which space, light and reflection take you through changing perceptions and meanings. His fascination regarding the relationship between humans, artificiality and nature always initiates the making of these environments.
Ster Borgman sees themselves as an alchemist; a magical scientist. They work with natural processes and their transformative qualities. Ster works on the border between chemistry, art and magic. As magical research, ster melts natural pigments in glass. When you look at glass, it pretends not to move, but when you look away it starts dripping and leaking all over: glass is slow, but always moving. Ster uses only reused or natural materials and shows the life in inorganic materials.
Mainly influenced by her interests in practices/teachings such as Reiki and Shiatsu, Hannah Kiefmann’s artistic practice evolves around the experience of being in touch with her environment through the medium of her hands. The direct contact of her hands, the sensual touch, are essential in the process of painting and the further engagement with other materials such as clay and wood. She detaches herself from the usual patterns of looking with her eyes, and focuses more deeply on what layer of reality might exist just underneath her finger tip.
Roeland Rooijakkers’s practice revolves around the act of foraging in natural landscapes. Guided by the seasonal tides, he works exclusively with materials that he can collect in the environment. His materials range from organic to inorganic, including rocks, sand, clay, grass, leaves, flowers, branches, and fungi. Like an alchemist, he transmutes these ancient materials into new forms and installations. His works take on a meditative character and reflect the tranquility Roeland experiences when he explores nature. Through his installations, Roeland wants to emphasise the presence, beauty, and value of the non-human by presenting the materials as autonomous beings that coexist with us in the collective world we live in.