BOOK  Reviere |  Realms
Japanese Binding, 274 pages, German/English, 240 photos, index with 48 short essays, 21x28cm, 2024 – Graphic design: gebr.silvestri
 – Kerber Verlag
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Enforesting oneselve
…“We go into the forest and at the same time it moves into us. Enforesting oneself does not require a forest in the strict sense, but simply a different relationship to living territories.“
Baptiste Morizot, On the animal Trail

Since my move from Amsterdam to the countryside north of Berlin, in the former East Germany, I have discovered the forests surrounding my studio as an inexhaustible source of inspiration.

These forests, a mix of wild nature and human-made structures, tell a layered story. They are crisscrossed by paths of wild animals such as roe deer, deer, wild boars, and even wolves. But traces of human intervention are also unmistakably present: the legacy of DDR forestry practices, hunting, resin tapping, and the long period of military activity during the Cold War.

What stands out is the way this remote piece of nature functions as a microcosm for broader societal issues playing out on a global scale. Here, the ongoing tension between different conceptions of nature and the environment, the conflicting interests of forest users, and the undeniable signs of the climate crisis come together.

What I see in the forest is not just the disruption of nature, but at the same time, its incredible power and beauty. It is this ambiguity that I try to capture in my work: the intertwining of the ecological, social, and political dimensions that shape today’s nature.