About

Artist statement

In my art work and research I am exploring how meaning is physically made. I investigate the mouth, speech and affect from a physiological, historical and feminist perspective. What drives my praxis is the question how embodied sensations can be transferred from the body to an object. I experiment with changes in materiality, shape and size in order to create objects with bodily associations.

In earlier works such as “Spoon” and “I Will Speak the Words it Would say if it Could Talk” am focusing on the place where language is formed and food destroyed: the mouth. I use the mouth as a sculptural tool and the oral cavity as mold. Food, especially malleable aliments such as soft candy as well as objects related to eating, like spoons are the materials I am working with. Bitten objects are an integral part of my sculptures. They embody the memory of the chewer and her mouth, feeling sensual and repulsive at the same time.

Biography

Originally from Luxembourg, artist, educator and museum professional Patricia Huijnen holds a BFA (Université des Sciences Humaines de Strasbourg, France, 1999) and an MAA (Emily Carr University of Art and Design, Vancouver, Canada, 2012) in Visual Arts. She is a trained art educator (Université du Luxembourg, Luxembourg, 2002) and has international museological experience. Her sculptural, object-based and graphic work has been exhibited in Luxembourg, Switzerland and Canada. Huijnen is currently living and working in Basel, Switzerland.