Maikel Deekman
I take the best of both worlds. I take the African influences where the ties with my ancestors and the ties with people are very important. And I also take the western influences, where the economic and social is more developed.
Maikel Deekman (1971, Suriname) is a Dutch artist with roots in Suriname. Inspired by traveling artists, he describes his development as a ‘hybrid’ artist—a result of the cross-fertilization between his personal experiences and different cultural backgrounds. Informed by linguistic, political, cultural, and anthropological perspectives, he continually challenges himself to reflect on identity and positionality, which strongly inspire his work. Deekman has a distinct sense of color, material, and texture. He often works with hard and ‘ready-made’ materials such as metal, wood, and glass—elements that naturally find their way to him. Through his work, he blends the cultural heritage of the Maroons (fled African enslaved people) with the contemporary aesthetics of (Dutch) modernism.
What distinguishes Deekman's practice is his juxtaposition of different techniques—craft alongside contemporary high-tech processes. These cross-pollinations result in colorful works that explore the interplay between technology and tradition.
