Ellen Yiu left Hong Kong at the age of twelve for boarding school in the UK. Her work draws inspiration from personal anecdotes. “My practice is like a tactile visual diary, often rooted in memories,” Ellen says. “I like to turn small details into universal stories.”
The reception centre for Ukrainian refugees in Kijkduin has become a real home for Vladyslav and Veronika. They have made their room truly cosy with simple furniture and meaningful objects speaking of past and present; their stately tomcat Boston evidently likes the place too. The building, formerly an educational consultancy, is welcoming and well equipped, alive with the noise and laughter of children playing. What’s more, it provides some twenty dancers of the disbanded United Ukrainian Ballet with a spacious studio where they can train and rehearse.
Adam Centko describes himself as a ‘lens-based artist’. “I look at the world and try to make sense of it,” he says. “As an artist I interpret what’s around, but not just by using my two eyes.”
Opleidingen
2016-2020 Interactive/Media/Design, Koninklijke Academie van Beeldende Kunsten, Den Haag
Tentoonstellingen
2024 AcentiricSpace, Shanghai (China)
2023 Art to make you travel (groepsexpo), Heden Gallery, Den Haag
2022 Garden of Aether Solo Exhibition, Den Haag
2022 Opovo Artist Colony (groepsexpo), Opovo (Servië)
2022 Aants.World Solo Exhibition – Dry roots die young, Kuala Lumpur (Maleisië)
2021-2022 Out_sight – Ethereum Landscapes – Seoul (Zuid-Korea)
2021 WHAT YOU SEE IS WHAT YOU GET (online screening/interactieve website)
2021 All my friends are phones and tablets, Rijeka (Kroatië)
2020 Saigon Experimental Film festival, Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam)
2020 Telemagic – 1 euro cinema, Silicon Sights, Rotterdam
2020 Dutch Design Week, Silicon Sights (online)
2020 Silicon Sights Installation, Graduation Festival Royal Academy of Art, Den Haag
2020 Silicon Sights, Subbacultcha collectibles, Amsterdam
2020 Silicon Sights Installation, IMPAKT Festival Online Channel & video archive, Utrecht
2020 Silicon Sights Installation, 1646 Contemporary Art Gallery, Den Haag
Het begin
“Ik was ongeveer dertien jaar oud toen ik begon met tekenen en zat op de middelbare school. Mijn interesse lag niet bij de gebruikelijke schoolvakken, maar ik liet mijn fantasie de vrije loop in de schriften. Rond mijn vijftiende raakte ik erg geïnteresseerd in videoproductie en begon ik een YouTube-kanaal waar ik video’s van mij en mijn vrienden op de fiets monteerde. Uiteindelijk leidde dit creatieve pad mij naar de Koninklijke Academie van Beeldende Kunsten in Den Haag. Na mijn afstuderen aan Interactive/Media/Design besloot ik mijn creatieve praktijk fulltime voort te zetten.”
De toekomst
“Mijn droom voor de toekomst is het opbouwen van een solide artistieke praktijk waarin ik mijn kijk op de wereld kan delen door middel van 3D-rendering, beeldhouwkunst en bewegende beelden. Ik wil de grenzen van mijn kunst blijven verleggen en nieuwe ideeën en technieken blijven verkennen. Ik wil ook meer evenementen organiseren die de creatieve gemeenschap samenbrengen, waardoor we elkaar inspireren en de verbinding aangaan. De komende jaren zie ik mezelf niet alleen impactvolle kunst maken, maar ook ruimtes creëren waar kunstenaars kunnen ondersteunen en groeien. Door mijn kunst te combineren met gemeenschapsopbouw, hoop ik een levendige en inclusieve creatieve scene te helpen koesteren.”
Wat vind je van de nominatie?
“Ik was echt verrast toen ik hoorde over de nominatie. Als jonge creatieveling vraag je je regelmatig af of je werk enig verschil maakt, dus het is geweldig om op deze manier erkenning te krijgen. Het geeft me het gevoel dat alle late nachten en het harde werken hun vruchten afwerpen. Deze waardering vergroot mijn passie en toewijding alleen maar nog meer, waardoor ik ertoe wordt aangezet kunst te blijven creëren en met de wereld te delen.”
Choreographer, musician, and poet Amos Ben-Tal joined the Piket Art Prizes jury in 2022. At the end of last year, he decided it would be better to say goodbye. Although he very much enjoyed his two years as a jury member, he found it increasingly difficult to juggle his manifold commitments.
A few weeks after the Piket Art Prizes award ceremony, Katarina Head moved back to the UK, where she has found a place to live and work. She is now exploring the London art scene, looking for opportunities to show her paintings. It’s not easy, but Katarina is undaunted: “I’m going to be making forever.”
Kamila Sipika has recently returned from a trip to Poland and is busy working towards setting up her new studio in The Hague. She feels grateful to have found a new space where she may create. She is also busy applying for funding that will allow her to pursue her creative goals. “Having to write about my work and formulating an artistic vision is essential as it helps to prioritize and select my ideas and their realizations.”
Sophie Whittome, one of this year’s nominees in the Dance category, recently joined NDT 1 after two years with NDT 2. “So far, it feels familiar, in some ways. There are unique qualities to each of the two companies, but what remains is that there are many people in each who are dear to me. It is the people, always, who pique and maintain my interest in a place. The brilliance of a company of this size is that it can act as an anchor that draws all these wonderful people together.”
Katarina Head, one of this year’s nominees in the Painting category, is busy making work for an upcoming exhibition at artist-run space Trixie on the Scheldestraat. She’ll be sharing the space with two other former Royal Academy of Art (KABK) artists who, like her, are inspired by nature and natural materials. Natural processes, the merging and morphing of natural forms, are a common thread in her work.
“It feels as if the Piket award ceremony is only a week ago,” Isla Clarke (winner Piket Art prize 2022 (Dance)) “The past few months have been so demanding and intense.” She will be taking next season off for the final stages of her transition and looks forward to what she calls her ‘next chapter.’
