Cardboard Heads - karton koppen
Heads
During the Covid-19 lock-downs in 2021 I made 8 collages from cardboard paper. Shops were closed and online orders boomed. Orders were usually delivered in cardboard boxes, which ended up in trash recycle paper bin, containers full waiting to be recycled. Some of the cardboard I recycled in another way, making portraits / masks of historical figures, in ever increasing sizes. I started with a 1.20 meter high portrait, but soon sizes became larger and larger. I had to stop making more, my home in Wageningen became too small. In 2026 I started anew, making smaller size cardboard heads, 50-70 cm.
Heads of historical figures are modified and portrayed as masks, faces, characters, according to our current perspective on historical and current social issues. Questioning what have we learned of the needless deaths of too many people, because of Covid-19, poverty, slavery, war.
The Golgotha Trilogy (Crucifixion of Christ)
In The Golgotha Trilogy, the crucifixion of Christ on Golgotha ("schedelplaats", calvariberg) in the midst of two convicts is placed into the time of Covid-19 (face masks, a corona of brown and white crosses) symbolizing the dark and bright side of mankind, the deaths of 1000s that have been sacrificed during the pandemic: death becoming a number, a hashtag. Stills about betrayal, condemnation, and death, but above all about remission and love. Almost 2000 years old, the message is still relevant today. With a nod to Jean-Michel Basquiat and the Matthäus passion, It may seem disrespectful at first, yet for me it is about showing respect and beauty, a kind of resurrrection, to what is means to sacrifice, suffer, and forgive. For some it made them think of Chaim Potok's "My name is Asher Lev" ... I felt more than honored.
The work still needs a finishing touch: oak wooden bars as a suspension system? ... Two heads I took out of my home into my Lab and showed them during my Open Studio March 26, 2023, Amsterdam Noord and April 11-12, 2026 during the Culturele Ronde in Wageningen.
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Eva Ment and JP Coen, pendant (Recall, remember this)
In The pendant of Jan Pietersz. Coen and his wife Eva Ment, both are portrayed from another, more versatile perspective on war and slavery: the millstone collar is made of slave chains, head and hair become a halo of crosses, symbolizing the 1000s of deaths by colonisation and slavery. The wealth for few had a high cost for many.
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Heads continued and recycled again
Another Christhead "Anno Domini 2021" (150 cm high) and a pendant of Napoleon Bonaparte ("L'autre Main") of and Jeanne d'Arc ("H3S3") (both 230 cm high and too big too transport) could be seen in my Lab only. More heads were planned, e.g. the Vitruvian (Da Vinci), space, however, was limited,
Moreover, December 2025 we moved our studio from Amsterdam-Noord to our new home in Wageningen (W10). Time to review old work, and also to say goodbye to some unfinished pieces: several cardboard heads (Napoleon, Jeann d'Arc, Xtus) were cut into pieces and returned to where they came from: the wastepaper bin. The reason was simple: too big, and less space in the new studio. Below an impression of my heads being recycled.
Others (2 Golgotha heads, EvaMent, JPCoen) were moved, by Truck It! and in my own car, JP Coen would have never thought he would travel in the belly of my "old ship" ( a Volvo V70) to a new home. Some got damaged a bit during transport and storage, but could be repaired, and still can be seen on site in my studio. In progress...
Eva & JPC - On The Move
Golgotha's descend
Napoleon Recycled
