Collage was there before graphic design ever was.
I first discovered collage during my time at the Hout- en Meubileringscollege in Rotterdam, where I trained in the craft of upholstery and interior furnishing. Years later, my professional path took me into graphic design, where working with images, typography, colour and composition became part of my everyday life.
Eventually, collage found its way back.
Today, I work both digitally and by hand, combining fragments of photography, fashion, nature, architecture, found imagery and whatever else catches my eye. I’m drawn to things that don’t necessarily belong together — contrasts, unexpected combinations, beauty with something slightly off.
Sometimes a work starts with an idea. Sometimes with a colour, an image or a single fragment. And sometimes two completely unrelated things simply look damn good next to each other.
I don’t believe every artwork needs an elaborate explanation or a profound hidden meaning. Art can tell a story, trigger a feeling, make you uncomfortable, make you smile — or simply make you stop and look twice.
I occasionally find my way into my own collages, too. Not necessarily as a self-portrait, but simply as another fragment to work with.
Because in the end, art is whatever you want it to be.