About
My work manifests as strategic interventions along the fault lines of the local political landscape—places where democratic processes fail and where the symptoms of social, political, and ecological crises become visible. These “ruins” of the neoliberal era expose hidden histories and alternative narratives, offering space for art to draw attention to marginalized groups and forgotten issues. My projects act as seismographs, registering the tensions and sensitivities that run through the social field.
By uncovering historical layers and recontextualizing local materials—such as buildings, monuments, or archives—I aim to reveal a sense of cultural continuity that resists the disruptive logic of modernity and market-driven innovation. Each project is developed in close collaboration with local communities and is deeply site-specific, allowing form, function, and medium to emerge from the context itself. Reconstruction and re-enactment play an important role as strategies that emphasize reuse and repair over innovation as a goal in itself.
Although my work lends itself well to exhibitions and publications, I prefer to engage with public space in order to reach a broader and more diverse audience. Participation plays a crucial role in this approach—not as an end in itself, but as a way to involve viewers in the process of artistic creation. For me, art serves as an exercise in pluralistic thinking and a defense of democratic values, particularly at a time when polarization and misinformation threaten public discourse. Public art, in this sense, can create spaces for difference and dialogue.
By producing works on site, I invite passersby to witness the gradual development of a project and to engage with it as it evolves. This emphasis on craftsmanship is not a nostalgic return to tradition but a form of contemporary activism that resists mechanization, mass production, and fossil-fuel dependency. Efficiency may have accelerated production, but it has also estranged us from the intrinsic value of material and technology. Through manual processes and slowness, I aim to restore a human scale to making. Showing the process of creation opens time and space for vulnerability, failure, and experimentation, while revealing how technological progress can further alienate us from nature, from one another, and from ourselves.
Historically, craft has been a central element of communal life, with techniques such as ceramics and weaving serving practical, social, and spiritual purposes. I deliberately employ time-intensive techniques such as woodcarving and embroidery to invite moments of pause and reflection. By integrating the act of making into the artwork and sharing it with the public, I aim to create opportunities for collective contemplation on the accelerating pace and complexity of contemporary life.
My practice is grounded in the belief that political change follows cultural change—when dominant assumptions suddenly become untenable. In times of crisis, the struggle over public imagination becomes visible, and culture plays a decisive role in shaping it. Imagination arises from discontent; it creates a critical experimental space to question and reinterpret existing power structures. Resistance, therefore, is inherent to art—but this does not mean art should be reduced to an instrument or propaganda. The power of art lies in its ability to embrace paradox and ambiguity. By revealing the world’s multiplicity, art invites reflection and responsibility, becoming a means through which we can collectively shape reality.
For contact: wouterosterholt@gmail.com
Generously supported by the Mondriaan Fund (2022 – 2026)
