Maarten Brinkman

Maarten Brinkman about Maarten Brinkman:

“When I was an eight year old boy, we had a dark wooden cottage near Blaricum, which looked like a small Swiss chalet. The cottage was on an old estate on sandy land, where the thick old trees, forests of currant wood and stately beech lanes alternated. Almost every weekend we went there with our family and we played and discovered. In front of the house was a ragged lawn, surrounded by purple flowering rhododendrons. Through the grass the sand shimmered.

One day – playing with the sand – I discovered that each sand grain had a different shape and color.  I sorted the grains as to color and suddenly I had a collection. To me, that was a magic moment, because how could something worthless and so small become so important? No one had told me that sand was so beautiful and that you could collect it like stamps and coins!

My art is about questioning the way in which we confront our world. Why are some things valuable and others not?

If I make a beautiful sculpture from a stone, it is clear to everyone: it is art and is precious. But if I make a print of an ordinary stone and make an artwork, does that change the character and value of the stone? Where is the turning point and how many interventions should I make?

The moment when the stone transforms, is the point at which another magic world reveals itself, the moment when the miracle occurs. And that’s what I’m looking for in my work!”