My graduation project Embrace Me was triggered by my internship in Curacao, where I felt daily confronted with my own position as a white Western European in a world partly shaped by the violence done by my ancestors to others, which made me question my own position in this world and my responsibility to be aware of the traces of this historical violence and the everyday products and habits flowing forth from that violence.

For this project, I used materials that are intricately connected to our colonial history, in an attempt to create something constructive from materials that found their way to my hands through violence and destruction.

The final circular painting was displayed during my graduation exhibition in a dark room, where the visitors had to hold up a candle to be able to view small parts of the painting at a time, never gaining full overview, but searching through the struggle of bodies.

Painting made with cacao, coffee, acacia gum, turmeric, rooibos tea and chalk on cotton.
2,5 x 15 meters.