blue heaven

A new start

Yet another initiative is coming to fruition: we are moving to C-mine in Genk (B). On the site of the Winterslag coal mine we move into a new location.

After eight years of intense restoration, we live and work in the protected and renovated metal warehouse.

It is an incredible step that gives us a new impetus. For my free work I now have 1000m2 at my disposal to exhibit my projects in an optimal environment.

Older work is also coming back to the forefront and gives me a new impetus to build on existing realisations. The mere opportunity to present this work in optimal conditions is stimulating. Works that were stored in an archive for years now provide renewed inspiration.

Actually, a person and his work do not really change in the course of his life. He always ruminates on the same material and translates it again and again, tested against new insights and achievements. It is interesting to see the evolution one has gone through.

The space at my disposal now reminds me again of the large works of 100 and 200m2 I made in the early 1980s. A work from 1986 at Atelier 340 in Brussels (B) and also one from 2002 and 2003, bring me back to using the liquid clay, the material from which all my work is created. I will now use it on its own, with the moulds in which it is cast and with final results in porcelain. It will be a series of works with a temporary character. The clay dries slowly and starts cracking. The clay is not fired and when the work resumes, I am forced to repeat the actions which leads to a different work each time. These actions completely correspond to the work of the 1980s, where the work takes on a ritual character and the action becomes the subject.