Imagine whistling is a universal language
People of the Wind is a research project integrating ceramic installation, text, and field study (birdwatching) to explore fragility, memory, and adaptation in relation to environment and perception. The works function as vessels of recollection, drawing on observed avian behaviors as narrative devices. Through lyrical and speculative storytelling, birds are positioned as both counterparts and mirrors of human experience, creating an environment where the viewer becomes an active participant while engaging in contemplation.
Terra, within this framework, operates conceptually as a pond—a site of gathering and reflection. The installation features scattered texts that invite non-linear, iterative reading.
The relief uses seven daisies for multiple cultural references, including the Seven Valleys, musical structure, and the Seven Sages, in dialogue with The Conference of the Birds by Farid ud-Din Attar. As in this narrative, the journey itself is foregrounded over its destination. The birds travel through seven valleys and ultimately arrive at themselves.
This work is part of my research project People of the Wind. Terra is one of sixteen works developed during a three-month residency in Longquan, China, followed by a one-month residency in Jiaxing, China.
Vergeet niet in the checken! exhibition, curator Marlene Deutinger.
This work was supported by CBK Rotterdam I&V + Projectbijdrage and the Mondriaan Fund Residency Grant.
They hurry for nothing and everything is established.
