Back then

Through her often somewhat absurd collages, Kristel Naessens (b.1968, lives and works in Belgium) takes her viewers into a dreamy world. Guided by her intuition, she combines her detailed illustrations in ink or graphite pencil with graphic printing techniques such as linocuts, monotypes or the drypoint technique. In that process, technicality and craftsmanship, or being hands-on and creating imaginary worlds go hand in hand. From her love of melancholy and the fragility of old documents, she likes to work on paper from old books or magazines. Although she wants to give the viewer the freedom to create their own story, thematic threads that recur include children or man's hierarchical relationship to the planet. The ambiguous figures between humans and animals make the seemingly lovely scenes feel uncomfortable and alienating at the same time.