Wat is Natuur? | Nienke Sybrandy, Anthea Bush, Marian Bijlenga & Maarten Brinkman

Opening: Sunday 11 Jan 2026 — 13:00 to 17:00
Opening hours: From 13:00 to 17:00:
– Sunday 11
– Friday 16, Saturday 17, Sunday 18
– Friday 23, Saturday 24, Sunday 25
– all in January 2026 & by appointment

Part of the puntWG Open Call Serie

What does nature mean? Is it something we name and shape, or are we an inseparable part of it? In this exhibition, four artists each explore the relationship between humanity and nature in their own distinctive way. Nature serves not merely as a source of inspiration, but as an inquiry. How do we relate to nature, and how does this relationship shape our understanding of the world? We invite you to reflect, look closely, and discover. Our work shows how we can rediscover nature: as a mirror of our values and as raw material for the imagination. It is a search for connection, change, and new perspectives.

Nienke Sybrandy
is inspired by nature not so much for its aesthetics, but for how we interact with it and the meanings we attach to it. Through objects, she investigates how we understand ourselves and our place in the world. In her current research into plant pigments, she interrogates and visualises the relationship between the natural world, colour, and space, with an emphasis on material narratives. Her textile work is tied to time, place, and landscape, aiming to cultivate greater harmony between humans, society, and the environment, to the point where nature no longer appears as something external to ourselves.

Anthea Bush
In her work, she uses plants as a subject to reflect diverse social and economic values. She is interested in how perception and knowledge have shifted over time and continue to evolve. Many plants hold a place in our collective memory: evoking recollections of home, childhood, or specific events. Nature’s resilience and will to survive are reflected in plants that thrive in dark corners and improbable crevices. By allowing these plants—often dismissed as weeds—to dry into twisting forms and fixing them to paper, Anthea Bush reveals their stories: narratives that reach far beyond what the term 'weed' suggests.

Marian Bijlenga
What is writing without pen and paper? A stick pressing into the beach, carving dry sand away from the wet underlayer? And is it waiting for the next wave: tabula rasa? Is it a bent piece of wire forming words? Is it the branches of an apple tree carrying the halting rhythm of a sentence? For Marian Bijlenga een vel vol hanepoten, writing is a script made of hundreds of illegible texts. She is fascinated by handwriting, not the text itself. Writing is arranging and rearranging, writing is omission, writing is the most concentrated form of not-wanting-to-write. In that which remains unnamed lies the story of her objects.

Maarten Brinkman
In his work, he seeks the moment where the everyday transitions into art. For him, this threshold holds a certain magic, making visible the power of imagination. It is the moment a line turns into a drawing while remaining both. By working with everyday, often natural materials and simple techniques, Maarten Brinkman gains clearer insight into this tipping point; what to add or omit in a work. The interventions he makes must be clear and precise. Sometimes, all he asks of the viewer is to look at reality from a different angle.