The weather has been dreadful, and I've been stuck behind the laptop again all week studying and working on an assignment.

So yesterday, I desperately needed a change of scenery.

I took an umbrella and walked to the nearby 'Kunsthal KAdE' to see their latest exhibition: Folkert de Jong's oeuvre retrospective, 'Ministry of Fear/Foam'.

Museum

I love going to museums. It's one of my favourite things to do. Before the pandemic, I would visit at least two a month.

I'm lucky to have three (actually four) local museums I can pop into whenever I want with my museum pass. This means that I visit most of their temporary exhibitions.

I always go in with an open mind. Sometimes I love what I see; sometimes, not so much. And even then, I can always find something to catch my eye or occupy my thoughts.

Folkert de Jong uses styrofoam and polyurethane foam to create life-size figures and tableaux vivants.

His colours are happy and vibrant, but his subjects are bizarre, heavy and uncomfortable, and his materials are chemical and toxic. This makes you stop and wonder what it is you're seeing.

I admired the colour choices (using pastel colours to tell gruesome stories), the textures (bubble wrap as a texture maker in foam and resin - incredible!), the inventiveness, and the carved details.

And what I especially like about a retrospective is that you can see the development of the art(ist). I think it’s fascinating that some of the themes stem from things that were an interest in childhood or experiences as an early adult.

Crayons

I'm way behind on the Gelli Arts March printing challenge prompts. Although, I obviously had plans to do them all (hence the list)…

Hmmm. Yeah. Perhaps overly ambitious. However, I can still do some, and I did want to finish the 'Birds' page as I intended.

Challenges are an excellent opportunity for experimentation. So that's what I did. I experimented with crayons and layers in a black paper sketchbook (another challenge in and of itself).

Film

We watched the Oscar-nominated film 'Im Westen nichts Neues' in the evening. I read the book in German in high school, so I knew what the film was about; however, I did not remember much (though during the film, I did recognise parts of the story).

I have only seen three of the ten academy award nominees for best picture so far. And I feel underwhelmed.

So, tell me which one do you think I need to watch next?

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Museum visit + Gel printing with wax crayons