"As an artist you don't make something, it evolves"

Remi Kruizinga (1953) has succesfully ended the Royal Acadamy of Arts, but then did more towards the graphic design. In this workfield he made a carreer, but the sculptor inside him kept asking his attention.

Remi: "To earn a living as a sculptor was not an option for me, but not doing anything with my creativity and talent was a thought that kept bugging me. Until my father told me about the Sculpture-Garden of the World Art Foundation in Eerbeek and there I came in contact with Sculpture workshops that this society organizes annually. I became fascinated by the way of working by the African artists from Zimbabwe.

The African Sculptors only make use of their hands and some simple equipment to make something out of a stone. It means for example that they let the stone decide what kind of shape will appear. The stone kinda leads the sculptors' hand towards a hidden endresult. (Intuitive sculpture). Western sculptors have a lot of equipment and techniques by which there is a danger that sculptors make an artwork or that it will be a certain style in every work. During the workshops in Eerbeek I learned to work with stone, whereby fantasy, own creativity and handskills are most of the equipment used by making this unique and lively art.

"As an artist you don't make something, it evolves".

Stimulate and criticize

In Eerbeek Remi Kruizinga rediscovered the sculptor inside himself and that made him start to do the thing he loves the most, sculpture. Remi is however someone that doesn't like halffinished work, he always tries to do the ultimate best he can. Besides that he likes to work in a team, so people can stimulate and criticize each others work. A good way to come to a satisfactory endresult. "In 1998, the year I came in contact with the World Art Foundation, this society, with Norbert Simons as leadingman, was not excisting for a long time yet.

The Artists that reloaded themselves at Eerbeek were to my idea handling to much in a free way, which doesn't really appeal to me. I have then asked Norbert if he could maybe look in his list of members which, just like me, wanted more to focus on result and do more with there time. Norbert went searching for me, and found a number of professional and semi-professionals artist and so the the "Sculpture Group" and later the "Artist Group" started".

Remi Kruizinga hopes that the creative spark, which has been given by the artists from Zimbabwe to the members of the Artist Group, will now jump and lit the fire of the public interest which will hopefully be doing much good to the artist who follow the way of Zimbabwean Artist, who come from all over the world!

Remi works, within his concepts as an intuitive sculptor, also in commission.

Text: Marja Wassenberg