Emmy Dijkstra

About a year and a half ago Sabine and I built our own paper hut. Based on a ceremonial house ceiling from Papua New Guinea, we made our own ceremonial ceiling. It became a real paper hut in which you can lie down and look to the stories of the printed ceiling. It symbolizes rites of passage from an old life to a new one. So it’s about saying goodbye; preparing yourself for a new life.

For me our paper hut is a place where the people I always draw, could stay, They are between places: they undergo their rites of passage. Different ones: from childhood to adulthood, to travel from one country to another, from sleeping and dreaming to be fully awake. It’s about these transitions I draw.

I have traveled from one country to another, but I’m still in between, so I would like to built our hut again.

Before I moved to Stockholm and I had to put all my things in big cardboard boxes, I got a phone call from artist Elsbeth Cochius: if I wanted to make a paper dress for singer/performer Marijke Boon. Marijke Boon was asked to perform at the presentation of the graphics calendar  2014. This calendar was founded by artist Elsbeth Cochius five years ago. Because it was five years ago that the first calendar was presented, Elsbeth wanted to do something special: Marijke Boon performing in one of my paper dresses. I had only one week to make the dress, so in the middle of piled cardboard boxes, there was one spot left where I could work: the diner table.
I had never met Marijke Boon, so I did a little research and saw some pictures of her. Based on that little information I started to make the dress. I wanted to print it with a simple colorful pattern, not to complicated. But a dress ready to perform in.

So the dress shows a man who is just walking, I don’t know where he is going, and sometimes he looks up to the moon. That’s a very short story, I agree. But often a short story is the only thing an artist needs.

( Picture made by Karin van der Meul )

I recently moved to Stockholm, Sweden. But my paper dresses are still in Enschede, the Netherlands.  The dresses are part of an exhibition ‘Grafiek +’ at the Vrijhof, an exhibition room at the University of Twente. Two weeks ago there was an article  in a local newspaper ‘de Roskam’ about the exhibition and it said: ‘the printed dresses of Emmy Dijkstra seem to refer to a search of an own ethnic identity ‘. I think this sentence is very well put. And indeed: I don’t know my ethnic identity yet. But I always draw about it. People always ask me if I went to Africa or did I travel a lot? People from different cultures constantly appear in my work. But no, I never visited Africa or other African cultures. I think I just have a lot of imagination, when I read about different cultures I start picture it in my own mind. This imagination somehow connects with my own search in life.  Now that search starts all over again, here in Sweden.

( you can still visit the exhibition till November 18th. Open daily  from 11 to 17)

Today I have finished my third and final dress for a printmakers exhibition this october. I have worked on this project for the last three weeks. In the meantime, while my dresses were left to dry, I made new series of paper litho prints. I am not working in my own studio but I’m using the workshop of printmaker Elsbeth Cochius. I like working in a different environment: it inspires because I have new thoughts and they give me new images. I also consider this project as a conclusion of my time here in Enschede. Because I will be moving to Sweden, Stockholm this fall. Although I found it a little bit sad to leave, because I had such a great time here, I will take with me a lot of good memories, and now my journey continues

I have to make three new paper dresses, printed with paper litho’s and stencils. I think the first one is ready but I haven’t made up my mind yet, whether I should add a necklace or maybe that is to much? There are choices I have to make…

The last few weeks I have been working on paper dresses; this october I have to present three new ones during an exhibition. Now I am home and not working on my dresses and there is always a sense of guilt when I’m not in my studio. But to be honest: I like to stay home when I am in the middle of a working process. People may think I should go to my studio to make sketches and preparations. But I like my images to linger in my mind so I can give them time to mature and still have the possibility to make changes. I hardly make sketches. I make them in my head, during reading, watching television, eating, sleeping etc. Sometimes I write down my findings: in a little notebook or in a blog as I am doing right now.

I can linger in my mind while I am sitting or lying in my bed or floating through the air

The last couple of days I have been working on something totally different then I usually do in my studio: making jewelry out of paper, tape, wire and glue. I am preparing for a workshop which is going to take place next week at a secundary school.

Now I am starting to think how to intergrate these jewelry in my own work. I get all excited now because I see lots of possibilities. For example: I have to make three new paper dresses for an exhibition. Maybe I can combine the print work on the dresses with a necklace or even a headdress. I often look at other cultures where jewelry shows to which tribe you belong.

In a while I will be moving to Stockholm for two years. So those dresses will be all about travelers and wanderers and where you’re coming from and where you’re going.

I’m busy all day with preparing a presentation which will take place may 26th.
The last few months I have been interviewing people, together with artist Eva Meijer, about art in their homes. We’ve visited 32 people in the neighborhood Velve-Lindenhof in Enschede.
Eva and I were curious about what people find beautiful art. Now we have collected 32 different stories and art works. I wrote down the interviews and Eva took pictures of the artworks. It was very suprisingly what people came up with.

Now I am making a presentation to show the people from the neighborhood what we have collected.But that is not the only thing: the presentation is a connection between art in the neighborhood and the art at Rijksmuseum Twenthe. From those 32 artworks I have selected ten pieces and went to the museum. I searched in the museum for artworks that have a similarity with the artworks we found in the houses. Not only by image but also by stories, how it originated etc. Those similarities will be featured in my presentation.

There were also people who came up with art made by their children. That reminded me of the COBRA group from which the museum owns a few pieces. COBRA group was inspired by children’s drawings, one of the most famous artist who belonged to the group was Constant. And there is this beautiful painting made by him ‘La Guerre’ and it is now shown at the Rijksmuseum Twenthe. Short after he left the COBRA group he made a series of war paintings. But the influence of COBRA is still visible: really powerful. You see this running figure, you don’t know if it is a human figure or a creature, running away from the war. The colors are black, white, red. It is so expressive that you can feel the fear and the pain that creature must have.

The beautiful part of preparing this preparation is that I have to do research to different kinds of artists and that is really inspiring and interesting. Where would we have been today as artists if al those artists before us didn’t do al those experiments, wrote down new ideas and thoughts? We should be thankful; at least I am!

This guy perfectly dressed in a suit and tie started to appear in my work after i saw him sitting in the subway. Now he is part of a little exhibition at Rijksmuseum Twenthe. Surrounded by his thoughts, his childhood and memories of his homeland.

Last week I finished a whole week of teaching at several secondary schools. Those art classes did not take place in their own classroom but in Rijksmuseum Twenthe. The museum invited me to exhibit some of my prints. I started the lesson by looking at my work together with the students and I told them about my work, what it means, what it stands for and where I get my inspiration. Then it was their turn to make their own art piece by using the same technique  i use a lot: stencil printing.

But before they started to work they had to think about a place they once were and where they would love to go back again.

The two pictures below show some results. I always hope to inspire the students by telling about my work but they definitly inspired me! Again!

The title from this post  is a sentence from the book ‘What is the what’ written by Dave Eggers.

I’ve read it some years ago but certain parts of the book i’ll never forget. Like: ‘You just couldn’t break Charlie.’ 
The book is about a Sudanese refugee and based on a true story. At some point the maincharacter runs into an old friend Charlie, who is just like him a refugee and has been through a lot. But despite that: ‘You just couldn’t break him’.
For me this character Charlie is a real inspiration, a strong person.
In life every person has his own problems and sorrow  and i hope i can be as resilient as Charlie when i’m facing difficult things.
Now, in my studio i started to make drawings of Charlie. He will be my leading figure.