About Liesbeth Henderickx

Liesbeth Henderickx lives and works in Ghent. She studied liberal arts at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Ghent and followed a postgraduate degree at the Higher Institute of Fine Arts. In 2020 she received the Bohuslän Stenstipendium in Sweden.

Henderickx is inspired by material engineering and architectural trends. In her sculptures she often uses stone and concrete and applies traditional techniques that are slow and meditative in nature. She enjoys this contradiction between using a slow medium of artistic work in a society where every second counts. Initially, Henderickx was interested in the ideals of modernism, which she translated into concrete constructions. However, over time, her interest turned to stone, which caused a shift in her work process. From an interest in the ideals of architectural modernism to ideas about how we can reconnect architecture and everyday traffic with our immediate environment. It became a search for the values, meaning and origin of the materials that are present in our urban landscape. These materials are applied in a landscape that is constantly subject to physical changes. According to Henderickx, that is why they have lost their relationship with the energy that comes from the tangible matter itself. Her work can be characterized as non-demonstrative. It is based on the consciousness of matter. She tries to make the viewer look again, sparking somewhat of an ecological meditation. Henderickx sees sculpture as a medium to emphasize the relationship between the body and architecture and to visually portray this autonomous relationship. The processes she uses to create these sculptures are derived from craft traditions often attributed solely to hobbyists. Henderickx champions these techniques and patterns, which harbour an enormous possibility for creative thinking.

At ARTZUID, Henderickx presents her graduation works Kariatide and Hestia. In both works she returns to the classical pilaster form from the time of the Egyptians and Greeks. The classical meaning of Caryatid is a female statue that was used architecturally as a pillar. Henderickx frees the woman in her Caryatide. The title of the stone-built sculpture Hestia refers to the goddess of the hearth and its fire, promoting cosiness and a settled society.