In an industrial, light and former classroom in Sauwerd we find the studio of Herman van Hoogdalem (1956). When not working here, he teaches at Academie Minerva, occasionally gives presentations about his artistry (including a TED Talk) and is often on the road for inspiration. At the moment his visual work is project based and he is guided by his interests.
“I am usually in the studio before nine o'clock. First a cup of coffee and then I look around. In general, I know reasonably well what I'm doing and that's where I start. At a certain point I decided to only do what I feel like doing. Then I make the best work that communicates best with the world. Usually I work on a number of things at the same time and then one thing leads to another already working. Every now and then I end up in an experiment and I let myself be guided by that. Sometimes I first sit in my studio for an hour to think about what I'm going to do. In the past I would have started working long ago, working on and screwing things up. I take a lot more time now, I watch a lot more. I dare not do anything now.
If you were to put me on a desert island, I would take watercolor paints, all kinds of paper and drawing materials with me. What I like about watercolor is that the paper also continues to play a role, it remains visible. At the moment I work a lot on rice paper and that requires a lot of concentration. I work on that for fifteen minutes and then I take a break.
I am currently working on a project that is a direct result of the Faces of Dementia project. I met a man with dementia who said: 'I would like to die, but that is not going to happen, because I am no longer mentally competent'. That triggered me so much. Later I met someone who works at the end-of-life clinic and wanted to discuss this topic with me. On the one hand I am intrigued myself, I am working on this subject. Those people fascinate me, also in terms of portraits. A person who actually wants to go to the other dimension, I find that very mysterious. I also want to offer these people a stage. To make a long story short, we are going to make a book. By going to all kinds of places in the Netherlands and talking to people who have signed an advance directive. I'm going to paint these people. In the book only these people and their partners are mentioned. No doctors and no experts or philosophers, that's important to me.
I also teach on Minerva. As part of the lectorate, I devise projects and conduct research with students. Now, for example, I work with them in a care institution. It just keeps rolling and everything flows into each other. I think that's very nice.”
The space in which an artist works is a place where people plod, plan and measure day in, day out. Where a creative product is created and where people think. In this series, visit Groningen artists at their workplace with us. What are they currently working on? What does their working day look like? And what do they do to relax?