Takeover: #133 Laura van Daalen
Laura van Daalen: Instagram / Website
#133 (12/10 - 18/10 2020) written by Anisa Demirci and Cheyenne Pattiwaël
Laura graduated from Fine Art at the HKU in 2019. She is currently studying the Research Master ‘Artistic Research’ at the UVA, which stimulates the theoretical depth of her work and artistry.
Having lived in America for eight years and having traveled all over Europe, seeing many places, she has built quite the photography archive. It consists of pictures of various landscapes she collected.
“I have vague memories, but the pictures are very vivid. That way, I revisit those places.”
By making smaller frames and going over the pictures, Laura will find compositions that intrigue her. She also makes basic sketches to create compositions of the idea and impression of a ‘landscape’. They are still related to the natural world and what we see, but brought down to a minimalistic approach.
“I am purely playing with compositions and colors. Colors make it come alive, they can stand out from each other and strengthen each other.”
Laura’s works ask us questions about the malleability of the world, like how everything is designed. Ideas about the Anthropocene, the era in which Earth's climate and atmosphere are affected by human activity, lie at the base of her work. She poses the question how her work would be so different from the places she has been to? Isn’t it just another copy of a manufactured or made thing?
“I don’t quite like the word ‘landscape’ because everything is affected and edited by us.”
Precision and patience are important to Laura and her process. The monotypes are all unique, the process is strenuous. She wants it to stay quite clean. But once you get closer, you start seeing these playful details.
“I think the fun thing of printmaking and working with a large press, is that you are given little treasures. It all has to be right, but suddenly there’s a spot or a hard lump in the roller. There’s always something you don’t expect when it comes rolling out on the other side. These textural treasures make my work stronger.”
Having lived in America for eight years and having traveled all over Europe, seeing many places, she has built quite the photography archive. It consists of pictures of various landscapes she collected.
“I have vague memories, but the pictures are very vivid. That way, I revisit those places.”
By making smaller frames and going over the pictures, Laura will find compositions that intrigue her. She also makes basic sketches to create compositions of the idea and impression of a ‘landscape’. They are still related to the natural world and what we see, but brought down to a minimalistic approach.
“I am purely playing with compositions and colors. Colors make it come alive, they can stand out from each other and strengthen each other.”
Laura’s works ask us questions about the malleability of the world, like how everything is designed. Ideas about the Anthropocene, the era in which Earth's climate and atmosphere are affected by human activity, lie at the base of her work. She poses the question how her work would be so different from the places she has been to? Isn’t it just another copy of a manufactured or made thing?
“I don’t quite like the word ‘landscape’ because everything is affected and edited by us.”
Precision and patience are important to Laura and her process. The monotypes are all unique, the process is strenuous. She wants it to stay quite clean. But once you get closer, you start seeing these playful details.
“I think the fun thing of printmaking and working with a large press, is that you are given little treasures. It all has to be right, but suddenly there’s a spot or a hard lump in the roller. There’s always something you don’t expect when it comes rolling out on the other side. These textural treasures make my work stronger.”
