initial application statement

Making public sculpture has been my main activity throughout my profession as a sculptor. Having spent my youth in the United States, I would find it an exciting experience to be enabled to make a proposal for a public work there - and in particular for the Denver Justice Center.

Aside from some works in collections, I have never done a major public sculpture in the United States. After studying art at California State University at Long Beach I moved to Europe where I continued my studies in art after which I grasped many opportunities for creating site-specific art in that part of the world. It was the city of Rotterdam which started the democratic public art program in 1972.

I am very happy to have been requested to apply for a public art opportunity in Denver. I see Denver as a clear and legible place and would like very much to have the opportunity to make a public sculpture there. My work is open and clear - fundamental laws and rules apply to my work. People recognize order, or at least feel systems and rules in what they experience and perceive - nonphysical, visual things. For me a public sculpture is a structure into which one can go, which one can enter and feel protection as well as vulnerable - visually as well as physically. I think this approach to my art fits well with the the ideas behind justice within a society.