Casper Waaijer (1995) wins the 2024 John & Marine Van Vlissingen Art Foundation Prize.
Inspired by architecture and geometry, Casper travels to Kazakhstan this spring. In this country full of contradictions, he searches for a way to unite the brutalist architecture in the cities with the breathtaking landscapes.
A book about Casper’s journey, sources of inspiration and new works, the fifteenth edition in the Inspiration series, will be published by Waanders. His new works will be exhibited at Museum Singer Laren from November 26, 2024.
Casper’s work is intuitively abstract. He combines a variety of materials, techniques, shapes, textures and colors. In 2021, he started tufting. Combining it with acrylic paint gave his works even more depth and contrast. Charles Ruijgrok, board member of the Foundation: ‘Casper is an autodidact. His work particularly appeals to us because he works so intuitively. We look forward with great interest to his new work.’ Recently Casper has been experimenting with braids: works made from strips of acrylic paint on burlap and linen. In his upcoming work, Casper wants to further perfect the art of braiding.
The shapes in his earlier works are inspired by the tides of the sea. In his most recent work, the same shapes recur, but he also looks beyond and incorporates architectural and geometric influences. Growing up in Noordwijk, he spent entire summers on the beach as a child. From a young age, Casper was creative and excelled at drawing. Nevertheless, he took a detour toward being an artist and first did a bachelor’s and master’s degree in business administration. In 2021 he took the plunge and since then Casper has focused entirely on his art.
Casper’s work is intuitively abstract. He combines a variety of materials, techniques, shapes, textures and colors. In 2021, he started tufting. Combining it with acrylic paint gave his works even more depth and contrast. Charles Ruijgrok, board member of the Foundation: ‘Casper is an autodidact. His work particularly appeals to us because he works so intuitively. We look forward with great interest to his new work.’ Recently Casper has been experimenting with braids: works made from strips of acrylic paint on burlap and linen. In his upcoming work, Casper wants to further perfect the art of braiding.
The shapes in his earlier works are inspired by the tides of the sea. In his most recent work, the same shapes recur, but he also looks beyond and incorporates architectural and geometric influences. Growing up in Noordwijk, he spent entire summers on the beach as a child. From a young age, Casper was creative and excelled at drawing. Nevertheless, he took a detour toward being an artist and first did a bachelor’s and master’s degree in business administration. In 2021 he took the plunge and since then Casper has focused entirely on his art.
