Hans Borgonjon

hans Borgonjon

Artist • Curator • Project Consultant

Artist • Curator
Project Consultant

A little bit about myself

I was born in Belgium near Bruges in the Flemish lowlands. I initially trained as an intensive care nurse. And for the last 30 years this has been a steady source of income and enabled me to travel and work abroad and in the UK.

I studied art in the UK over a period of 10 years via the Open University and went on to achieve my Masters in 3D Design at Bath Spa university.

Although my training is heavily based in ceramics I have always been interested and open to working with diverse range of mediums and materials. I like to use video, sound and projection (see Fragile World). I have created small hand made functional ceramics (see Bee Mugs) to conceptual (see Black Dog) and large scale multiples for installation (see Concave Portraits). The ‘Loom Sculptures’ were a complete break from ceramics. Although small porcelain elements managed their way back in (Loom Sculpture).

The Blue sculptures followed on from the Loom Sculptures. This very strong and powerful colour (championed by Yves Klein) has been an inspiration to create new and contemporary work out of 300 to 400 year old oak weaving looms (see Blue Kiss).

2020 has been a turnaround for my work. I suppose I had lots of time to think about and reevaluate my work during the pandemic. I found that in lots of instances abstract work was no longer sufficient to express the multitude of emotions I have experienced since 2020 (being in the thick of it as an intensive care nurse). My metal figurative sculptures be it in bronze or pewter were born out of this notion (see Bronze Winged Figure).

I tried to condense the figures to their bare minimum: remove all the layers and masks and expose the naked visceral emotions: suffering, loneliness, fragility and despair. But also a sense of hope, together, courage and strength.

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