About Maze
de Boer

As a multi-disciplinary artist I work with Sculpture, installation, painting, film/video, photography and music.

My work often springs from the historical background and the social context of the location or the theme of the exhibition. My installations are often referred to as site- specific but I rather see them as site-responsive works. Although the installation may have originated from a specific site I aim to create an autonomous work that can exist in any location.

I compose my art works from a conceptual perspective, but the result is always visually appealing, often playful and easy to respond to. Work that can be enjoyed by art lovers and strangers alike. Creating a work of art is an emotional and physical experience and I believe the work itself should function in that very same way. My work may be conceptual, I would like to believe that it can be enjoyed with and without unraveling its concept.

In recent years I have allowed myself more playfulness in the creative process. There is more room for impulse, improvisation and, indeed, play.

I am interested in blurring the boundaries between visual arts, architecture and theatre or performance. Visual interpretation so often misleads us, we tend to fill in gaps through the images we have grown accustomed to. In my art works I try to catch the viewer in this often unconscious act of filling in the missing details. I strive to create perfect ‘images of illusion’.

I share with the spectator a staged view of reality where he or she becomes aware of its boundaries. In my three-dimensional work the spectator appears to become part of the art object and often plays an active part in the work, simply by being present, without necessarily being aware of his/her role in the ‘bigger picture’. The spectator becomes an intricate part of the installation, also in the eyes of the other spectators and the work of art itself becomes literally a collaboration between artist and audience.

As a visual artist, scenographer, teacher and curator I embrace the synergy with other creative minds (writers, directors, composers) and professional craftsmen (woodworkers, welders). My work in the theatre is both influenced by and a source of inspiration for my installations and sculptures. As a scenographer I collaborate with theatre and opera directors with whom I created over a fifty productions.

I would describe my art works as conceptual attractions taken the concept is my starting point and attraction the result.