2020
80 x 100 x 60 cm
Textiles, ceramics, sink tub, wood
Textiles jacquard woven and knitted in Textile Museum Tilburg
Ceramics made and fired in soda wood kilns at Guldagergaard, Denmark
Exhibition: “On Foreign Ground”, Museum Woerden, 2020

The word "Peregrinus" is Latin and in Roman times it meant "foreigner, one from abroad". In Christian times is was used for "traveller, wanderer". When I made the work in 2020 I was focussing on the person of Saint Bonifatius, who travelled from his home country England to mainland Europe to Christianize the Frisians and other local heathens. For me the voyage symbolises a great leap forwards, not knowing what will be there in the future. What country, culture and people the traveller will encounter is quite uncertain. The journey is highly dangerous and unpredictable. Folks at home think the traveller to be a dare-devil, mad or just a fool. And yet, he or she has to go. There is a reason why the Peregrinus has to abandon the place, where he was born and raised and which he regards as his home. Nowadays we have seen greater migration movements than ever before. Some patterns are temporary when holiday or work is the goal. Being an artist-in-residence makes me travel the globe to learn about new cultures, adapt to the foreign location, make new friends and deepen my experience. It will change me for good.