An overview of my most noteworthy projects
Underneath the Sea Level
Underneath the Sea Level is an installation that critiques Dutch national identity by confronting the enduring myth of having “conquered” water. Rooted in the cultural narrative of The Fight Against Water, the work serves as both a reflection and a warning: our sense of mastery over water might be an illusion.
The installation takes the familiar shape of a Dutch table, but this scene is quickly disrupted as the table begins to flood. Water seeps over the tablecloth, gradually revealing layered symbols: the national motto Je Maintiendrai, a colonial map of Batavia shaped by the Dutch polder system, and an illustration of the 1775 Watersnood flood.
These images point to deeper, often overlooked narratives, traces of extraction, colonialism, and exploitation embedded in the Dutch relationship with water. The idea that we can mould everything to fit our vision, rather than taking things as they are. All in all, it questions the comforting national myth that the Netherlands has tamed nature.
Over time, moss begins to grow across the table. This living presence symbolises nature’s quiet resistance, reclaiming space, thriving in places we once sought to dominate. It becomes a reminder that our best defence against water may not be control, but rather, nature itself.
In the age of climate change, Underneath the Sea Level challenges the belief that we have “won” the fight against water. It asks viewers to reflect on what safety and control truly mean in a country built below sea level. What happens when the systems we've built begin to fail? Can we afford to cling to mastery, or is it time to embrace coexistence, with water, with nature, and with the histories still shaping the land beneath our feet?