BIO
Renske Herder is a multidisciplinary artist and designer, born in Leeuwarden, The Netherlands (1986). She works in the fields of textile design, collage, graphic art, painting. She received her master's degree in Industrial Design Engineering and honered her skills working in the field of surface design and product styling. She also worked as a pottery painter in the traditional majolica technique.
After this she decided to dedicate more of her time to art making and spend more time outdoors. She quit her job and now lives and works on the Caribbean island Bonaire with her husband and two boys of 1 and 4 years old.
Renske’s body of work consists of figurative paintings, abstract paintings and mixed media artworks. Her artworks often have a highly graphic character and an air of nostalgia. Since Renske lives on Bonaire local scenes and island life became more and more visible in her paintings.
She recently started a new project called 'All things lost' where she makes an artwork each day with something she found on the street or beach.
about my art practice
Tranquility and simplicity are the things I'm always looking for in my artwork. This must also be the reason I live on an island. I love the imperfection that life on an island brings. Another thing I'm drawn to is the past and how people lived before these hectic times. I like to imagine how people lived and also how they made things. I'm fascinated by the crafts like basket weaving, rug making, ceramics and more of these old crafts. My experience as a graphic designer and stylist is clearly reflected in my work as is my time spend at a traditional Dutch pottery painting company.
I like to address in my work that we've lost something as a society. Peace, tranquility, the making of things and repairing things. A slow life. I'm looking for it in my art practice.
I like to use found things in my artworks, sometimes trash, beach finds or a broken bag. Mixed media and collaging things together is the basis of my working method. This is where I can be surprised and it allows me to be playful in my art.
One day I would like to work together with an artisan in weaving or something like that to make some very cool objects from beach trash like fishing ropes.
Things I love besides creating
My family, bike packing adventures, the ocean, camping.