Sculpture — MAUD VAN BAAR DE KNEGT

On Longing

2024

Hand-dyed sun umbrella, fishnet, metal

On Longing

2024

Found sun umbrella, dyed with acrlic, found piece of metal, found fishnet, wood

I loved earth years ago

2025

Installation made with found objects

I loved earth years ago

2025

Installation with found objects

I loved earth years ago

2025

Installation with found objects

I loved earth years ago

2025

Installation

Big Ball

2023

Made from discarded clothing and fabrics

I loved earth years ago

2025

Installation with found objects

Big Ball (detail)

2023

Enmesh

2024

Exhited at 'The Sixth Island' group show at NEVERNEVERLAND, Amsterdam

Memory is a Strange Thing

2024

Clay, metal

Enmesh (detail)

2024

Material Girl

Soft sculpture / performance

Purse

2022

Giant handbag - soft sculpture

Crown Years

2021

Mixed-media sculpture

100 x 110 cm

‘Crown Years’ memorializes the festive sentimental rituals surrounding childhood birthdays. Inspired by the annual ceremony and its associated objects, this sculpture depicts a birthday crown. In Dutch culture, children get to wear a homemade paper hat in the shape of a colorful crown, to signify the occasion’s festive status. The origin of this beloved custom is that before records were kept, only kings and nobles could afford to celebrate their birthdays, as they were the only ones that kept track. So celebrating your birthday, in a way, is like being a royal for a day. In a way, ‘Crown Years’ is also the artist’s account of the absurdity of her chaotic, bewildering, yet colorful childhood. By shifting the scale, material, and context of the paper crown, this familiar form becomes both audacious and celebratory. It commemorates the passage of time and milestones that help define us.

The Other Side of the City

2017

Cardboard, acrylic, glue, and found objects

100 cm x 110 cm x 30 cm

Inspired by the hillside favelas in Rio de Janeiro, the piece depicts a miniature favela. Feeling the need to create something out of nothing and taking on the role of a bricoleur, I assembled this microworld entirely out of trash -recycled boxes, pieces of metal found on the street, fruit nets, and plastic bags. Through the re-use and recontextualization of discarded materials and found objects, this piece engages with narratives of social and political dissent.

A Crack In the Dream

2021

Textile Installation

350 x 400 x 300 cm

This assemblage uses found materials and reclaimed cloth. It harnesses debased materials I collected or often found on the street such as tarps, dirty rags, Ikea bags, plastic wrap.

I relied heavily on chance materials manipulations and inventive construction methods to transform common materials into a new image that refuses to be named, identified, or fully understood. The result is a hybrid form that takes shape between trash, craft, quiltmaking, abstract painting, collage, and installation.

This ecosystem of textiles represents my interpretation of a contemporary urban landscape. Fascinated by public spaces and the industrial, I turned to artificial materials and the stable brightness of harsh neon colours. I was inspired by certain symbols of everyday life in a city; traffic cones, subway signs, tarps, tent cities, wet asphalt, escalators, dog urine, safety vests, construction helmets, trash bags, neon lights, toxic emissions, and much more.