Reflections 2022





Energy and Matter 2022

Matter and Energy 2022







     
From the Roots we Grow 2022 - Cyanotype, 100 x 140 cm




Mineral Evulotion (2022)

‘Mineral Evolution’ is a series that explores different forms of intertwinement between life on earth, inspired by the theory that the richness of minerals on our planet can only have evolved due to the interaction with biological activity. In order to move towards a future where we see the natural world as equally important as ourselves, and where we understand we are just as much part of nature as other animate and inanimate beings, we need to be able to imagine what life within something (seemingly) static would look like. How does a rock come to life? How do I relate to a stone? What are minerals to us, and what are we to minerals?

The theory Mineral Evolution has been first introduced in a paper by Robert Hazen and his co-authors in 20081. With an emphasis on the word evolution, it poses a similarity to the evolution of life, which until then has been considered a controversial approach to Mineralogy. The theory hypothesizes that Earth’s minerals have formed sequentially and have interacted with life forms for billions of years, inevitably having been affected by biological activity and therefore entangled with the evolution of life.

If we realize even the most static form of nature (that is considered to have evolved long before we came to this planet) has a connection to biological life on earth, then what does that mean to us? How can we create a storyline, where we not only coexist with, but also relate to these substances? How do we envision this interaction?

With the work in this series, I want to create an imaginative storyline through images. One that invites you to consider ways of looking at nature as an equal. Structures that resemble bones and roots, almost life-sized depictions of the evolution of a rock, soft textures inviting you to experience them through touch and vibrant explosions of matter that make something static come to life. 


‘Mineral Evoltion’ was on show at Contour Gallery in Rotterdam from the 29th of October 2022 till the 26th of November 2022.


1 Hazen, Robert & Papineau, Dominic & Bleeker, Wouter & Downs, Robert & Ferry, John & Coy, Timothy & Sverjrjensky, Dimitri & Yang, Hexiong. (2008). Mineral evolution. American Mineralogist. 93. 1693–1720.




Sentience I & II 2022 - Knitted fabric, 200 x 140 cm








Transformation 2022





Internal Being 2022











Through the Cracks 2022

Hidden Life 2022












Weathering 2022




Mark