277 Trials
A chronological installation of trial pieces made under the mentorship of art jeweller Ruudt Peters (Amsterdam 2015-2016)
It starts with a question. I’m in the first of my weekly mentoring sessions with Dutch art jeweller Ruudt Peters when he asks me: ‘What do you hate?’ I bumble and finally spit out: ‘Stupid things – you know, like disposable things – plastic packaging and Nespresso, yeah I hate those things, they’re dumb.’ Decidedly, he tasks me to do very dedicated and loving blind drawings of a Nespresso pod, at least five every day. He hands me one of his own Nespresso pods for the assignment and I make these drawings in my tent at Camping Vliegenbos.
After the blind drawing, blind making follows; ideas expand and develop intuitively. I practice being irrational and radical. Acting from the subconscious, the belly, with freedom, lightness, spontaneity and enjoyment – not forcing or wanting too much and trusting that the hands know more. I pause for reflection after each bout. The work gets deeper, more abstract. It becomes a mess, goes on wayward tangents, gains momentum then drifts away again. Ruudt asks me to take photos of bag ladies at one point and I have by now moved to a small boat. Inspiration and focus come and go. There are moments of excitement, dedication, risk, destruction, discovery, struggle. The work becomes clearer, stronger, more powerful and mysterious. Its essence emerges.