Marieke Coppens

If clay were a language, Marieke Coppens was an analphabetic. In preparation of her EKWC residency the artist and guru learned Hittite, an extinct language written in cuneiform script on clay tablets. In this light, it only made sense for her to use the Pollard script, an alphabet developed for an unwritten Southeast Asian language, to decorate her works. These include an imperfect infinite circle and an imperfect infinite square, made up of tiles embossed with fluorescent signs that emit an otherworldly glow in the dark. The mosaics don’t communicate a specific message; the signs and tiles form an endless pattern of repetition and difference. Coppens made the signs mixing fluorescent pigments with Egyptian paste, a self-glazing mass fired at low temperatures. To offset her carbon footprint, the artist worked as a volunteer planting trees (@meerbomen.nu) for at least 29 hours, which equals 10% of her total EKWC budget.