SUPPORT ME IN REALIZING NEW TAPESTRIES

I am Tjitske and I kindly ask for help.
I crowdfund for the costly process of producing unique pieces of eye-catching fiber art.
So in this case, money = art = love.

Goal
- 3 unique Jacquard woven tapestries: The Toxic Eye of Narcissus, The Cosmic Eye of Aphrodite and Winter Sleep
- 1 unique hand-tufted tapestry: Welwitschia & Welwitschia Bug
- sampling process
- photoshoot
- exhibition in The Netherlands in 2024

Special exhibition for this crowdfund
You are cordially invited!
Presenting The Seasons, Sunbirds & Tropical Flowers 2.0, Chameleon & Lichen and digital preview of one of my new crowdfund works.

Amsterdam Artspace
Blankenstraat 254, Amsterdam
November - December 2023
open for walk-ins during weekdays, or on appointment

Start of this journey

Back in 2020 I created my first self-initiated works The Seasons (Spring Field -Summer Garden -Autumn Forest). I just left Holland for an undefined period, going on a one-way ticket to South Africa. The place where I experienced lots of natural beauty and inspiration. Unfortunately 4 weeks later Covid forced me to leave my beloved Cape Town.

I went back to my roots: my sweet parents in Fryslân, where I stayed during Covid. Living remotely felt like a Winter Sleep but it was a very constructive period in my life. And in 2022 I created African Summer - later named Sunbirds & Tropical Flowers 2.0.

I created three other tapestries inspired by symbiosis (Sunbirds & Tropical Flowers 1.0 -Zebra & Ostrich -Chameleon & Lichen) and presented The Art of Living Together during Dutch Design Week '22, at Kazerne and Isola Gallery. Two exhibitions followed in 2023; at Object Rotterdam and at Rossana Orlandi Gallery in Italy.

For more stories please check my instagram and website

The liability of outsidership

The past year has been a rollercoaster with many investments in time, energy and money. A lot of ups and downs, and ups and downs, and ups and downs. The rewards are promising; my works found their way into the international art and design scene. Gallery Todd Merrill Studio, New York now represents me as a fiber artist. A welcome change but also a new world to discover. It sometimes anxiously feels like I have to start all over, being almost 40 years old.

While finding balance, I’m working a few days a week in my local food-cafe Odin. A very nice job allowing me to socially engage, learn cooking skills, and contribute to my neighborhood Oosterwold.

But in order to continue this journey, more action is needed. I digitally created new artworks, further inspired by my experiences and symbiosis. They are ready to be transformed into tapestries. My motivation is to express my ideas, passion and skills, and to exhibit these one-of-a-kind fiber artworks. The force of collaboration is now needed for my financial investments. And this is exactly where you come in!
With your help these digital artworks can become real tapestries.

Follow the Money

You will be part of my poly-symbiosis crowdfund.
The money will go to the making of four tapestries including sampling process, photoshoot and exhibitions.

1. The Toxic Eye of Narcissus - 150 x 150 cm
2. The Cosmic Eye of Aphrodite - 150 x 150 cm
Jacquard woven tapestries translating the polarities between Compassion/Mutual Symbiosis/Hope and Narcissism/Parasitic Symbiosis/Exploitation.

3. Winter Sleep - 150 x 115 cm
The missing Jacquard woven tapestry in The Seasons, inspired by the years living with my parents in Fryslân during Covid. A period reflecting more softness and new directions.

Compositions are created through assembling, re-coloring and adjusting photos from nature worldwide - photos taken by people worldwide - and transformed to fiber by using high-definition Jacquard weaving techniques.

4. Welwitschia & Welwitschia Bug - 430 x 270 cm
An abstract hand-tufted tapestry on the ambivalent symbiosis between these African species, part of The Art of Living Together. This unique piece will be handmade in India; this sustainable technique preserves ancestral tufting crafts while supporting local artisans in India.

In the name of Nature

Any financial support is appreciated, I will be grateful forever.
Optionally you'll receive a compensation gift, handmade with love. For examples see below.

And you are invited for the exhibition of my new works in 2024. This one will take place in Oosterwold Almere, The Netherlands. Location and date TBA early next year.

When these four unique tapestries get sold, 10 % of my profit will be donated to the WWF. Because the world needs more flowers & birds.

To stay up-to-date follow my instagram.
Or contact me [email protected]
I would be happy to hear from you! X