Swana van der Helm, AKI/ArtEZ

20 mei 2015

These sculptures are the result of my inquiry of (a person’s) self-awareness in the roomth.
The contradicting line someone draws between itself as perceptive being and everything that surrounds it, fascinates me.
There is no static constant, only an act – react – game, a permanent dialogue between humans as human beings and as part of nature.
And the ‘outer most edge’ – the defined frame – marks the roomth in which a person experiences himself as an individual;
(Just) As a human being – not as part of a bigger picture.

Human conceptualization of; time takes place in this exact frame.
The ‘time’ available to an individual or rather the physical outer shell of a soul, is set from beginning by death.
Where two truths collide, space will be originated to perceive and experience these contingent truths. (This can take place individually as well as collectively by human beings and their environment) Amidst spiritually close-connected souls the human definition of time again, isn’t of the essence – she ceases to exist – and the necrophobia (fear of death) apparently linked to human existence devolves due to the warmth and unconditional nature of this connection. Here only cognizant moments matter.
However, there is this fear of passing. It plays a significant role in human existence, so it is necessary for man to maintain a belief –a meaning (of life).
Do souls live eternally?
Our natural reaction is to seek shelter and to be able to form from there on into a subjectively perceptive individual.

My work puts forward many questions and on this occasion provides no definite answers. Simultaneously it opens doors to allow for one to take a clear point of view in the dialogue between artwork and its subject.
It is an open invitation to perceive and to become aware – to be.