Living and born: The Netherlands.

The art works of Karin van Dam (1959), whether drawings or large three-dimensional installations, invite the viewer to a sensory immersion, to go on a journey through the landscape of her imagination. The entrance to this private domain is rendered easier due to the sensual appeal of the materials she uses: paper rubbed with black crayon, corrugated tubes, pieces of rubber, scaffolding, automobile sunscreens, ponds, catch pits, lengths of velvet or soft wool. The installations can virtually always be literally entered as well, by walking around them or viewing them from above by way of a rope ladder.

Karin van Dam’s commitment is expressed in her fusion of art and everyday life. The intuitive work of developing images and relations from her own immediate environment that she regards as a stimulating factor and which she therefore welcomes with open arms is a constant element in her work. Karin van Dam looks straight through the standard structures and sees mystery shimmering behind them, and it is precisely this mysterious factor that motivates her work. By merging the structures and the mystery in enigmatic, poetic artworks, she endeavours to convey this personal experience to the public. One might say that Karin van Dam operates with the aid of a sixth sense, the mysterious factor that brings together all emotional and sensory experiences in a single clear mental image – that of a fabulous journey through an unknown urban landscape.

Meta Knol. (Out: Cry out for joy, you lower parts of the earth)