Since 2015, I have been working on my series Waanplekken. In my studio I construct fictional landscapes using everyday materials such as salt, paper, and wood, which in my images transform into majestic vistas: deserts, valleys, and mountains. These are carefully crafted illusions that feel familiar yet exist nowhere, blurring the boundary between reality and imagination.

My journey to the Rocky Mountains, part of the John & Marine van Vlissingen Art Foundation Prize, has inspired me to create new work: for the first time, I experimented with large-format handmade cyanotypes. With this technique, I apply a light-sensitive mixture to paper, place a large negative of a fictional landscape on top, and expose the work to sunlight. The light-sensitive areas turn blue where the light passes through the negative, while the dark parts remain white. I then further tone the works in baths of tea and coffee. The pieces show the traces of the process—stains, frayed edges, and unpredictable effects—allowing them to express both the majesty of the landscape and the personal inspiration behind them.

I find it incredibly special that winning the John & Marine van Vlissingen Art Foundation Prize has given me an inspirational trip, a book, and an exhibition at Singer Laren. This platform is a tremendous incentive for realizing a long-held ambition: to create large works that visibly carry the marks of my hands.

Waanplekken 103-123
Tinted cyanotypes on paper
Various sizes
2025