Self-taught Dutch sculptor Thijs Kwakernaak was born in 1975. “In my first years as a sculptor I mainly researched stone: for motives, techniques and themes that are important to me. I wanted to make poems in stone. This initial period seems to have been a great try-out for the work that subsequently emerged, namely ‘the wooden’. Working with all kinds of wood is a revelation for me; a material with which I can do everything that I could not do in stone. I have learned to take my time and look, which has created a lot of space in the images. A vision has emerged in which the world for me consists of layers; a world where everything is always connected. Through these layers I want to connect with the earth, stories about her and people … “. Artist’s website: www.thijskwakernaak.nl