This is a work exploring and questioning humans relationships (possible and current) with earth, soil, mud. It is a work that makes suggestions and invites to go low, to scratch and to search. it does thorugh material means and through a poem, which a part of has been embroidered on a pillow-like structure.
This work has been exhibited at Kunstfort bij Vijfhuizen in Haarlem (Netherlands) for the group exhibition KUNSTFORT X TXT : CROSS STICH
Naturally dyed unbleached cotton fabric. Dyed with mud and/or tree bark. For the large structure both metal wire and wood have been used in adition to fabric dyed both with bark and with mud. For the smaller structure pillow filling and embrodery have been used in adition to bark dyed fabric.
Text - The Urge To Merge With Mud (How To Make Mud)
2023
The urge to merge with mud (how to make mud)
In youth
Fear finds you
Sticks to your palms
Settles in your hands
Stays with what’s unknown
Makes you
fearful of
bugs and
grass and
trees and
stones and
water and
soil and
MUD
You keep that fear close,
let it become a second skin,
holding you tightly,
making you move stiffly,
only feeling what is known.
Never touching what you do not know,
thinking you do not know much,
of matters as mulch and mud.
But matters such as mud won’t let you be
mud will sneak into your life
onto your shoes
into your home
onto your plastic wrapped lettuce
into your kitchen,
your mouth
your bed
your nightmares
your dreams
mud can’t be avoided
better
reconcile with it
we’re all but mud in the end
Take me for
MUD
One; If you’re not outside go outside. Bring a shovel or a spoon.
Two; Travel. Be prepared, maybe you need to walk for a while.
Three; Look. Look at the ground.
Four; Find. Stop looking, and start searching. You’re searching for a spot in the ground that intrigues you, that pulls you towards it.
Five; Approach. When you have found such a spot you can start to gently approach the ground, letting your fingers softly touch the soil.
Six; Scrape. Scrape the surface of the ground with your nails. Familiarize yourself with the texture of the soil.
Seven; Feel. When familiarized with the soil, feel within yourself if it’s right. I can’t explain what right means to you, only you will know. If it doesn’t feel right then return to step two. If you already have returned to step two one or more times, then maybe this is not the right day for you.
Eight; Dig. If it feels right, then you can start to dig. When digging you can use a shovel or a spoon or your hands.
Nine; Keep digging. Dig until your arms hurt from digging.
Ten; Keep digging. Dig until you have a hole big enough to hold you. Keep digging. Dig until you meet earthworms. Keep digging. Keep digging. Keep digging. Dig until it’s dark. Keep digging. Dig until you hit water.
Eleven; Mix. When you’ve hit the water, you can start to mix the soil with it. Stir until there’s no intrusive lumps of dry soil. Stir until smooth and mushy.
Twelve; MUD