We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Hanneke Van Broekhoven a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hanneke, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Do you wish you had waited to pursue your creative career or do you wish you had started sooner?

I used to regret not going to art school straight after high school, but I don’t anymore. I understand why I couldn’t go against the advice of my parents and mentor. It was in the eighties, many people were unemployed, the future looked grim and I was very insecure and sensitive. For years I blamed myself for letting myself be talked out of it. Now I see I needed time to develop a stronger personality. I studied Modern Western Literature instead and loved it. Poetry, philosophy, cultural history, languages and writing: good basic general knowledge and education. Not at all a bad preparation for a future artist. During my studies and my job as an editor I took lessons with some good art teachers. Gradually I grew more confident. Making art helped me grow.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

When I am asked to tell what I do, I usually say I make sculptures of textile and steel. For some years that was an adequate description. But – like many artists – I like to try different media, for example recently I created an installation of garden hoses cut up in little rings and I have been making stop motion videos inspired by natural transformation processes. (Watch my little YouTube channel.) But my textile sculptures are my specialty. They are internationally appreciated for their high level of craftsmanship, for their convincing representation of human anatomy and for their vulnerable appearance. My work is always very labor intensive, whatever medium I use. I like to zoom in to the smallest detail, but also leave parts rough and unfinished. It’s a balancing act. The result is both beautiful and imperfect. Because it takes so much time, the work has the opportunity to develop and deepen. It never turns out the way I originally envisioned it. In fact the creative process is pretty similar to the course of my life and career. In general it gets better all the time, but there are moments when my heart feels heavy. I have to stop and find out what annoys me so much and what changes have to be made. It usually gets better after that.

Have you ever had to pivot?

I hope my increasing concern about climate change and the loss of biodiversity will also be an impetus for positive change. Anxiety and hope seep into my work. It’s all about transformation and the power of nature, decay and growth. Because I don’t think my art will have enough impact to change the world, I have become politically active as well.

Any insights you can share with us about how you built up your social media presence?

I have a habit of making lots of pictures of a work in progress. Unfinished business is fascinating, because it still contains so many possibilities. And I love loose threads, fringes and pins. My Facebook friends also seemed to like to watch over my shoulder and slowly and steadily the amount of connections grew. Then one day a new friend reposted some of my pictures and I received innumerable likes and friendship requests in the following weeks. It was overwhelming. I wanted to check who all these people were and respond to kind messages, but it was more than I could handle. After a while I took a business account, but not all my new Facebook friends started following that. A couple of months later there was a tsunami of likes on Instagram. That was easier for me, because one doesn’t automatically have to follow anyone back. I didn’t have a strategy, not even the intention to build an audience. I am very glad it just happened. I got a bit stressed at first, but some of these new friends and followers gave me the opportunity to take part in exhibitions and collaborate with creatives in different parts of the world. My audience is not huge, but it is loyal and supportive. It is heartening and I am grateful for that.
I have not been very active on social media recently because I have been busy, but I’ll pick it up again.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @hanneke_v_b
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hannekevanbroekhoventextilesculpture
• Youtube: https://youtube.com/@HannekevanBroekhoven

Image Credits
Photo of the artist by Marieke Noort