ARTIST STATEMENT
Global rising sea levels are causing panic throughout society resulting in many families losing their homes to the sea. The focus of this piece is the Netherlands’ flat geography and how the country and its residents are at extreme risk of losing their land and homes in the next half-century. The fading Dutch pottery technique ‘delfts blauw’, was modified to show an iconic staple of Dutch culture, the windmill, gradually being overwhelmed by its base object, representing the sea levels over time. My identity as a second generation Dutch immigrant provides me with a personal and cultural connection to the piece.
ARTWORK PROCESS
The technique is an adaptation of the Dutch pottery method, “delfts blauw”, that decorates my home, and represents my families home in the Netherlands. The patterns were researched and implemented as they develop the piece’s Dutch connection. This traditional technique has faded over time until now there is only one factory still producing the once extremely popular pottery. This work revives the technique for the subject of the flooding sea-levels. The truncation is used to show both the rising sea levels and the loss of traditional craft in the Netherlands.
