Heringa/Van Kalsbeek
Only we are approaching it from the other side, in the sense that we actually initiated and maintained the coming into being. But with us, there’s no telling which part was made by which of us. We’ve learned that you have to have more patience, keep looking for longer, let things go, let them take their own course.
Artist duo Liet Heringa (1966, the Netherlands) and Maarten van Kalsbeek (1962, the Netherlands) have been working together since 1998 and share a special fascination for the impredictability of nature. Their sculptures redound with material, colour and shape. To the observant viewer, parts of flora and fauna reveal themselves, as well as porcelain, artist’s resins, textiles and feathers. These are in some cases cast, in others directly worked.
In their work, Heringa/Van Kalsbeek seek to portray the natural process of growth, flourishing and decay. Chance plays a major part in their creative process but it might be fair to say that even above that comes the role of selection and recognition — and key to it all, biding their time for the right moment. The result is replete with references to the unfailingly surprising and inexhaustible beauty of nature.
