Nominee Henri Winkelman Award 2020
Being an artist is most of all a continuous search within yourself.
What is your occupation now?
I am a full-time artist with small jobs here and there on the side. In the first year after graduating from the academy, I have received subsidies from the different funds to support further research I have started with my graduation project A Dinner for the Fortune-Hunters (Het diner voor gelukszoekers). It was a participatory experience performance for my audience where I have tried to share the feeling of being at home in a refugee camp. A totally different point of view based on senses, empathy and above all new knowledge. More than 1000 people have joined me at the table during the last year, so my job was conducting the dinner rounds and gathering new documentation during the special conversations that arose.
Nowadays I am at the foot of new research that hopefully will lead to an as exciting, special and fascinating work as my graduation project had become. My hands are itching to make something new again.
What expertise did you gain at WdKA?
At WdKA I have found out who I am, what I want, why I want it, what I can do with the subject matter, how to present my ideas and everything that comes along. Especially I have learned what drives me in my choices and how much influence some things have. I now feel a strong, powerful woman who can handle the world and am ready to share my vision regardless of whether society is waiting for it or not.
What is the future of your profession in your opinion?
I hope that I can teach people around the world to look at my fascinations in a fresh and unexpected manner. By sharing the knowledge I have gained from my research, I would like to inspire my audience to look at some subjects in a different way, which would enrich my them and help to form an opinion that is different from the traditional (superficial) opinions based on ignorance and fear.
You never leave your house without…? Besides your laptop or smartphone :).
I never leave my house without switching my artist's radar on. I am an artist around the clock and I continuously collect everything in daily life. For me, making art is a way of being and just as essential as breathing, sleeping and exercising. It feels so intense that I find it difficult to live with, but I definitely can't do without all the beautiful things that come my way and enrich my life.
Any words of advice to our students?
Being an artist is most of all a continuous search within yourself. Your work is a temporary reflection that can change, but if you are convinced about what you feel and want and your passion and drive are bubbling, you will always be the best at what you do. Be true to yourself and you'll end up in the right place and will achieve everything you want because everything is possible and has the right to exist if given enough time and effort. Never give up, you are good enough already and can get better. It has not been easy for me either, but definitely worth it.
Name your favourite recent project.
Life itself <3
Visit Roos' website for the updates on the recent projects
