Fish Tribe

MATERIALS: Shou Sugi Ban treated and painted Wood

SCALE: 5 meters wide x 2 meters tall x 8 cm thick (transports in 4 sections)

May 9 – October 2026 | On Saturday, May 9 at 2:00 PM, Mayor Burgemeester Tjarda Struik will opened the eighteenth edition of the sculpture exhibition in the Leiderdorp Heemtuin. The opening took place at “Fish Tribe” on the large lawn behind the pond, on the water board hill. Afterwards, there will be a guided tour of the sculptures.

6 July 2023- 2026 | WIHH Gallery, Reuliersdwarsstraat 73, 1017BK Amsterdam. www.whatishappeninghere.com

23-27 June 2022 | Where The Sheep Sleep (WTSS) Burning Man Netherlands, Nulderpad 5, 3896LV Zeewolde, Netherlands. Entry tickets required. www.burningman.nl

12-29 May 2022 | Grenseloos Kunst Verkennen De Wijk/ IJhorst (Outdoor Location for 5 meter wooden sculpture: near Julianaweg/ Kerkweg. #6 on Art Route Map ) www.grenslooskunstverkennen.nl

15-24 April 2022 | Kunst Moment Diepenheim (Indoor Location for 8 meter drawing and 5 meter wooden sculpture: Timmerloods Kasteel Nijenhuis: Nijenhuizerlaan 17) www.kunstmomentdiepenheim.nl

The illusionary fish forms in the composition play with our perception. Through the rounded, open, accessible forms and the play of light and shadow, the water world now becomes part of the surrounding landscape.

In this inverted world, fish are vulnerable, though strongly interconnected. In a metaphorical context, this reflects the subconscious, as we too can feel ‘like a Fish out of Water’ with completely different environmental factors.

Like a Fish out of Water consists of burnt and oiled Okoume plywood in different layers and volumes. The web-like composition shows open and closed parts (negative–positive) that are directly connected to each other.

The forms have tribal connotations that simply emerged as I made the life-size charcoal sketches in my Amsterdam studio.