Ellemijn Geerkens
She/her
Dutch, 1999
Within my artistic practice, I primarily engage in sculptural works which are deeply rooted in personal experiences. Loss, the transient nature of existence, the human psyche, spirituality, memories, and the afterlife therefore become reoccurring topics in my practice. My work is a reflection of feelings that are often difficult to articulate.
Embracing a multidisciplinary approach, I use various mediums and techniques, selecting those best suited to amplify the underlying concept of the work. Clay is an important material within my practice, with its earthy essence the material resonates deeply with the human experience and functions as a symbol for our connection to the earth and the cycle of life and death.
These works are an attempt to render the intangibility of grief into something tangible. After having a personal experience with loss and death these works also serve as a healing process.
In today's society there is a pressure to move on quickly after suffering a loss, I am responding to this as I seek to validate this profound emotion, asserting that there should be space for it.
A search for relieve of my internal frustration and grief resulted into a physical act of tearing up clay while projecting these emotions onto this material. This act of tearing up the clay is a returning element in the works, as an attempt to capture the sense of being torn apart by grief. The use of ceramics with its fragile nature relates to the vulnerability of the human body.
