Biography

Born below sea level and the son of a pump mechanic, water has always been a dinner table topic. Now, it is central to my artistic practice. Whether flowing through rivers or pumped through pipes, I engage with water’s ecological and technical dimensions.

To feed my work, I explore riverbanks, join scientists in the field, and scavenge washed-up materials. I assemble these into ‘narrative devices’—functional objects that merge found materials, storytelling, and memory. Using woodworking, ceramics, soldering, and drawing, I rework them into tools for engagement.

Artistic project

We all live in watersheds—landscapes shaped by the movement of water, connecting us to rivers, streams, and the wider ecosystem. In these basins, human and non-human lives intertwine through shared currents, histories, and infrastructures. With We, as in Water, I explore how we inhabit these watery territories, using participatory and storytelling-based acts in public space to reimagine our relationship with them.

Over the past year, I have been developing this project through site-specific interventions that engage with the River Scheldt basin. Each act employs different methodologies and narrative devices to create frameworks for collective imagination. A performative lecture introduces audiences to alternative ways of thinking about watersheds, while interactive exercises transform spaces—such as ferries or riverbanks—into platforms for collective exploration. In guided walks, I activate objects crafted from river waste, using them as tools to materialize stories and facilitate interaction.

I envision We, as in Water as a translocal initiative, adapting its methodologies to new territories and river basins. The next step is to immerse myself in another watershed, working on-site to develop a new branch of the project and expand this shared imagination of life with water.

Format: durational intervention in public space

Size of audience: one to 10 people

Specific location: riverside, seaside, marshlands

Timing / duration: day-time, between 4-8 hours