Statement
What makes me tick
“What if” is of greater importance to me than “what is”. I am constantly on the look out for challenging viewpoints on whatever I encounter. This is how I entertain myself, this is how I learn. Combining elements that at first glance have little or nothing in common is what intrigues me most.
How I work
Therefore in my art I combine as well: impulsively and by mere association I add on, scrape off, thus building my creations. My work process is a succession of surprises; once it's finished I feel a comfortable distance to the work. Like I didn't make it, but someone (or something) else. This gives me a sense that my art is larger than me, because: “how on earth could something like that have been made by me?”
What it’s about
The essence of my work is blending the present with the past, from the Dutch 17th century to medieval European culture. Recently I turned my attention to the Silk Road, focussing on Syria. Not only am I attracted to the richness of the cultures that gathered there and their connection to world events today, but I also want to draw attention to Syrian heritage that was lost due to the war.
My art is rich, raw, refined, cheeky, naïve, adventurous and bold. I paint and draw, make sculptures and installations, ceramics as well as digital art/NFTs. Each of the artworks is unique and self-contained, but put them together and they tell my story.
Niels Broszat
Biography
Niels has an exceptional sensibility when it comes to civilizations and understanding how people from all over the world, from different cultures and traditions used to live and how their customs have evolved through time and space.
He strongly believes that by tracing back to the beginning of times and understanding how civilizations created art out of their cultures’ richness is a necessary anthropological process to go through in order to understand the profound meanings of humanity.
Since 2012 his work has revolved around the visual language of the Middle Ages in Europe, however, his gaze shifted over the years, outside of the Western world following the Silk Road, growing an interest in the country of Syria. He has learned greatly from Syrian people, whose open-mindedness he encountered nowhere else. From religions, to architecture, they have embraced foreign cultures and used diversity as a powerful weapon of knowledge. That particular country showed him the importance of celebrating our differences in times when we seem to drift further apart and made him question his Western beliefs as well as the practices and so-called critical thinking we’ve been taught from an early age.
His art feeds on the visual languages and cultures surrounding us, using knowledge and technology to create new forms of beauty, reflecting his dream of building a new culture celebrating our diversity.
If only we could pay more attention to one another, taking the time to understand our differences, we would certainly enrich every aspect of our lives.
Kenza Zouari
Curator
