In a search for morality in a world of watered-down ethics, I continue to return to the lapsed, animate body. The existence of material and immaterial being are interconnected in countless ways.
In the dialectic of being, as ‘one’ in everything, and as a whole, a transactional concept of ‘every thing’ reveals itself. No real thing has an eternal form, but rather constantly transforms, decomposes, and grows again. In a simple analysis of being, there is never any possibility of inviolability. A human, as transactional, and relational, existentially relies on the difference between inside and outside. For me, this awareness is the foundation of altruism, of which I believe, there is not enough in the world. In my practice, I explore the ethics that belong to a 'porous being' from psychological, somatic, and philosophical perspectives.
The affectionate, and empathic potential of ‘growing more consciously porous’ may aid us to remain resilient, openhearted, and constructively depolarising, in the face of increasing radical right-wing politics, disproportionate acts of violence by imperialists, and what feels like the end of international law enforcement.
We are entangled in the world, the world is entangled in us
I work between the abstract and the concrete, the semantics of thinking and feeling, (my)self and the world. I try to be vulnerable, to be open, and to read everything I can digest. I bring questions to books, to each day, and so into my relations to the world, connecting and associating them into works that exists somewhere ‘in-between’. Through writing, I continually try to know what I don't know, and ask questions to discover more substantial questions. My body is ultimately intuiting me the forms that emerge from my hands. I spend a lot of time with my work, many times again actualising pieces from the material in relation to the concept that lives within me within the world.
Phenomenal wonder lives in pragmatism
The body of my work consists of sculptures, texts, drawings, interventions, and sound. These arise from a cyclical progression, in which one work is always connected to the following work; every starting point was a temporary conclusion. In the materialization of my work, I try to practice what I stand for by consciously acquiring the materials, and the methods I use to create work. Embroirdering, drawing, and weaving, I currently work primarily with textiles, wood, paper, and ceramics. From a material framework, which is intrinsically linked to a concept, I explore the boundaries between concept and form, subject and object, text and context, to create work that invites one to wonder in relation to oneself, and one’s surroundings.
Jesse Blaauw is an interdisciplinary, primarily visual artist, born in Rotterdam in 2000. After graduating with a Bachelor's degree in Fine Arts at the WDKa in 2022, they graduated with a Master's degree in Fine Arts at the Sandberg Institute in 2024. Jesse is currently based in Amsterdam (Bijlmer). In addition to their studio-based art practice, they work in primary education as a Waldorf school teacher.