Star Me Up was a one-day studio exhibition of recent, in progress and new work, at Willie in Zaandam.

Old mattresses, upside-down floor tiles, fireworks remains and a falling-apart sun blind are some of the materials that came together in the exhibition. These objects all hold traces of their past use: textures, residues, and intimate details of bodily presences, and in them, time is either compressed or completely halted. Mysterious, mycelium-like stains have accumulated on mattresses over a long period of time, whereas split second moments of setting off fireworks are imprinted as graphic patterns left on the thin sheets of paper at the underside of their packaging.

I was drawn to these overlooked, worthless, dirty, damaged, or even repulsive materials because of the suggestive qualities they contain. To me, they are all carriers of meaning, and I used them to reflect on the state of the world,  consumption, care and value-making. Through carefully arranging, shaping and repurposing these objects, I invited the viewer to consider them differently, drawing attention to how value, meaning, and purpose are constructed in a world where sustainability and conscious care have become urgent matters.