Michiel Jansen has studied Sculpture in Den Bosch, just before it became St. Joost. He credits exploring his own ideas and his autonomous attitude towards making art to the teachings of this school. For him, choosing art was also a choice of freedom.

Jansen tries to order and structure the world in an abstract way, the way that he sees it. Whenever he looks at a space, he sees beyond the function we already gave to it. He wonders what the space is telling him, what is surrounded or hidden in it. Therefore, his artworks bring out another aspect of the space they are relating to. They define it in a sculptural way.

His sculptures have a performative aspect and the visitor becomes a performer inside the installation. People move in between the works, they take up and make up the atmosphere of the space.

Using common materials that anyone could buy, Jansen constructs his artworks. Material becomes an issue and an inspiration. By researching the colors, patterns, surfaces and thickness, they also become works of art by themselves. It may look rough and cheap, but it may also look like skillful craftsmanship. In the end, it may not even matter that he made it.

In Oslo, the exhibition ‘Construct and Separate’ shows a broad view on his art practice. A variety of site-specific works, two dimensional works and sculptures celebrates the different methods and stages of his work.

“Think for yourself, don’t just state what is given to you. Look beyond the surface and look deeper.”