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I'am Jan-Carel Koster, sculptor of profession. I make multidimensional sculptures in stone and wood.
That actually means I create 3-dimensional sculptures with a 4th dimension the stories behind de sculptures.
Jan Carel Koster creates multidimensional sculptures
He is a sculptor in the traditional sense of the word, from his 6th year
Traditionally educated by his grandfather and in combination with a theoretical schooling he become a gifted sculptor in stone and wood.
But....On his resume you can also find that he has worked as a screen printer, planner, teacher and sergeant by the Military Police."
I have been a Military Police, but my heart is yet somewhere else. That was actually from my early childhood.
It actually has always been a hobby of mine that has become a profession.
It has always been a passion. That passion I have managed to build up to what it is now and I hope to expand that. even further.
I try to inform people actively about what I do,
because art must be important, stay important and gets important for some people in society.
So I keep up my weblog, where you can find all descriptions.
But I'm also very aware of the fact that if you want to run a business, in any level whatsoever, you should express yourself.
And the expression nowadays is through the internet.
There you can reach your public, on a easy and inexpensive way.
For Jan-Carel Koster sculpting is making a passion come true, a continuing search that is visualized in the creations he makes.
Explanation of his work is probably for him the most important thing.
This story is the fourth dimension of his multidimensional artworks.
What it is about, is always an important thing in my sculptures. That is the story, that will come alive, behind the sculptures.
And it must make people become aware, and think about the sculpture, and about the story behind it.
Many times it is about time, about the history, that kind of things.
And that is what I want to convey whit my sculptures, making people more aware.
A major part of the work of Jan-Carel Koster consists of work on commission.
The past few years many clients already knew to find him, sculptures were created for State Forestry,
World Wild Life Fund, Waterweg Wonen, the municipality of Nijkerk, Putten, Barneveld,
the Landal Green Parcs, Gelders Landschap, Gelderse Castles, Kiwanis International,
Recron and many others.
Actually very diverse, from government institutions to private individuals and everything what's in the middle of it.
For companies, Awards, which I make now for the World Wild Life fund and so on and so on.
Actually, I make everything people ask me for.
But most of all, I try to bring my own style into my sculptures.
And then the big question is: what is the signature style of Jan-Carel Koster?
Actually my style is recognizable by the strokes of the chisels which you can see in the wood.
Also in a stone, I try to affix contrasts and I try to make beautiful flowing shapes and lines.
Organic and natural, that is my style.
Why wood? Because I am once started it because my grandfather. There I really learned it from.
And then, at the age of twelve, I went a bit further whit it.
I grapped a pair of trunks and I began to chisel.
Wood, it is a beautiful material, warm, that was what attracted me.
But at some point, there was no more challenge for me and I want to move further.
So I started to grap a stone, buy some chisels, that's what I've been doing from then on.
I am working very focused, very concentrated and I don't need any drawing or picture.
I only make a drawing for the customer so that they can see what I see in my mind.
When I am working, I don't need any drawing, because everything I make, I make it out of my mind.
And that method is particularly to see when Jan-Carel Koster is at work in his studio.
Fully focused and concentrated he is working on his artworks. Whit a big saw, chisel chopping machines,
but also with small hand tools, he gives form to the works that he has in
in his head from which he has previously put a sketch on paper.
After some weeks or months the sketch appears from the raw material
as an exact precise copy of the picture he has in his head into a trunk or piece of stone.
But, the making of this visualization is actually the last step in making these artworks
which began between the ears of the artist.
Yes, it is simple, all you have to do is cut the material away which doesn't belong there.
In my mind I already see the shapes in the block and that's it,
I can see the sculpture already finished. And I only have to remove what has to be removed.
The challenge that I'm looking for is to make artwork that increasingly get bigger and bigger.
And it is not only to make bigger artworks, but also making sculptures which a certain goal.
And in my next project I will try to develop myself also.
But I also have a dream to involve some other people or a group of people or a sort of charity.
That i can involve society into my work of arts. And that's actually my pursuit.
One of the biggest projects until now is the making of three artworks for a renovated and renewed residential area.
There had to be art in the public space.
That's where you could sign up on
where after there will be a ballotage. Then they will choose 3 artist, which I was one of them.
And that's why I was selected. For this project I designed 3 sculptures in stone.
And that are 3 big sculptures, the biggest is 3.5 meters high.
And the one I'm standing next to now is 2.5 meters high, the other, last one is a little bit smaller.
It was a very great project what took me 1.5 year. Well, one to 1.5 year surely.
The question of my client was that it should have some renewing aspects. But my work is not really innovative,
because my way of working is very traditionally, it's purely sculpturing.
I do that probably on a new fashion way, but I still work with hammer and chisel to make the finishing touch.
To create a modern touch in my sculptures I integrated a QR code.
This will be molded in the sculpture where you can scan the code to read the whole story on your cell phone.
The project in the "Hoofdstedenbuurt Vlaardingen"
characterizes not only the many ours of work of Jan-Carel Koster,
but also the size of the artworks itself and the multifaceted stories behind the it.
The sculpture where I'm standing next to now is about Madrid.
Why Madrid? Because it will be placed next to the apartment building named the "Madridflat".
The apartment building next to it is named The "Luxemburgflat"and so on...... So this sculpture is about Madrid
So I dive into the history of Madrid. What has happened there? The history way back
.... And then I find several facts that I will try to assimilate in the sculpture.
I find the history very important, because that is the time we already have lived of course.
And that time is in a sense important because of all what happened in the past has a reflection
on what is happening nowadays. And what is happening now is where we living in today
and that is both very important for us to build our future.
"This is a realistic object. Although compound out of different components.
It will be placed on the "Londonlaan" and that's what this sculpture is about.
There was a castle on this location in the 9th century. And you see in the sculpture a part of a castle arch.
That castle is at that time kind of an entrance to the village behind it.
And because of the fact that the "Londonlaan" is the entrance to the quarter,
I thought to resurrect a part of the arch in this sculpture. I used an angled stone to show that it was
a piece of lost property out of a long past ancient history.
Beyond the Arch, you'll find a piece of a tower, that is the Big Ben. That is because of London of course,
which is the relation with the quarter from now and then. Besides that I have also
displayed the position of the pointers in the clock. And that position all have to do
with the quarter of Greenwich in London, because of the location of the 0-meridean. The 0-meridean
and the position of Vlaardingen, Greenwich I combined it into the position of the pointers in the clock.
I've made that because of the fact that I want us to dwell down to the time we've lived in the meanwhile.
Most of the people in a residential area will choose
for a realistic piece of art, but I find it just great to choose an abstract work,
because of the draught behind it. I can put a little bit more of my story in such a sculpture.
That attracts me especially in abstract work.
A good example of a recently and abstract work of Jan-Carel Koster,
is one of the 3 artworks he has made for the project in Vlaardingen.
A big abstract artwork that is intertwined with the '4th dimension'.
I actually begin with the story.
There is a particular theme and it will be placed on a location. Then I'll dive into the history of that particular location.
What happened there? What is it called? Is there something that is important with that name?
How is the name originated? That kind of stuff I'm going to sift through.
It is actually a complete study of that subject. Whith that in mind, if you now all of that, that's the basis.
When you have all that stuff in your head, then I release that knowledge and let the shapes come out.
I tried to look at the history of the name Madrid,
I found out the name Madrid dates back to the 9th century.
It has everything to do with the term "El-Majrit', which means water source in the Arabic language.
That's how the name Madrid bastardized. So that is one aspect.
Now the water, that is the fluently movement in the sculpture.
You can also see a dancer in it with such a gracefully fluent dress. Especially that shape there.
Besides that, I think , when I think of Spain, of Bullfighting. That's what I wanted to bring out.
Then you have that dainty, elegant toreador. Who has a kind of stick with a piece of fabric on it.
That piece of fabric you'll find down below, or at least that shape.
Out of that shape you'll see the whole shape is based upon. And that's what I've tried to depict.
And because Bullfighting in Spain is a sport where they kill the bull in the end,
something i really don't like at all,
I decided to use marble from Portugal
because the bulls in Portugal aren't killed. So i used Portugese instead of Spanish marble out of Madrid.
To another group buyers of the sculptures is the 4th dimension at least as important:
Jan-Carel regularly make sculptures which are placed on or nearby a grave.
Real Jan-Carel Koster Sculptures but then focuses on the story and the life of the deceased.
"This is an abstract sculpture intended as a monument on a grave. And therefore I've
made a sketch, design for it, including the story, just like I always do with my sculpture.
Only in this case is it focused and based upon the madam who was deceased.
This is a very special stone. It is a gemstone which came out of the Kalahari desert in Namibia.
This is a beautiful blue Sodalite. Sodalite is a gemstone, but actually a so called semiprecious stone.
In terms of hardness it is trapped a few degrees below diamant. So a pretty hard stone to work in.
The chisels often break on this material. One day of work, one set of new chisels.
So, that shows a bit how hard this stone is. But it is indeed a very special stone.
It will take a while, up to a few weeks, until they find one in the desert.
I have to do some small things, here and there
I have to do some chopping, the opening below must be done, some small bumps are still to be removed.
And I'm making it smooth, the lines have to be fixed properly.
That's mostly done now. After that I'm going to polish it.
What will be presented immediately is that the object itself is smoothly polished,
this will turn in beautiful blue, and then behind this and around it you'll find the nice handily chisel work.
And the uncrafted stone itself behind here.
In this way you will find a great combination of colors which gives an extra dimension to this sculpture.
"Look, now you can see a little bit of the color it will have".
And this is what it looks like when it is all finished. Jan-Carel hopes to work with gemstones more often.
In the meanwhile he is occupied with another project in Nijkerk.
Here, next to a playground for children, I have to chisel this tree.
The work has to be related to the playground and with the neighborhood
So, I asked the children what they would like to depicted in the tree.
And of course there were animals involved with it. Among others a giraffe, a snake, a koala bear, a sling monkey and an eagle.
That is what i'm going to make here.
Most of the time my work has a theme of awareness, something to do with time. In any case, to make people aware.
And that is where I always try to write my sculpture to.
So, i think it's important for people to take a minute and think about what I've tried to depict in my sculpture.
Now I'm just making realistic animals, that is a very nice thing to do sometimes.
The children who actual see something in it. The head of the snake, that scary head, that should really appeal.
Especially the small kids, they should really have a feeling like;
"oké, a little bit scary". But you can also find a friendly giraffe, a sling monkey and a koala bear.
So, that elevates each other a bit. So it remains a bit of an exciting sculpture.
Jan-Carel works not only on his art in his studio, but also works on location often.
As in this case in the middle of a neighborhood where the local residents can be witnes of the birth of a wooden sculpture
out of a dead tree in a street.
Normally, I'm in my studio. And now and then someone drops by.
But in here, it is on a busy street and I'm constantly approached. People see my work directly and
I get immediate feedback there and that's a real nice thing.
When you ask me 10 or 20 years ago the question about what I'm doing in about 10 or 20 years, then I would have told you:
Sculpting, the whole day. And that is what I'm doing now.
But you want to keep on growing and there is always a new dream. My dream now is that in about 10-20 years,
I will be sculpting as well as national as international, on a level where i have reached some people.
that people know what I'm doing. and that I include people into my work and propagate my profession.
that is important to me too.
I really don't want that when I'm old and not be able to do this work anymore, that there is no one else doing it like this
the real tradition, using the original techniques.
That is a bit of my future dream, that I will be able to continue therein."
The characteristic abstract and organic objects of Jan-Carel Koster, with the typical rhythmic strokes of the chisels
in wood and stone build a bridge between nature, science and craftsmanship.
As no other he can visualize a feeling and assure the quality
Nowadays, Jan-Carel shapes his profession by depicting feelings on an artisanal way, but also with modern techniques.
He knows every time to depict and describe his sculptures on a unique and a lovingly way
Follow Jan-Carel Koster in his quest through his website, Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin and Google+
On www.jancarelkoster.com you can find his weblog, and pictures of recent work.
Jan Carel Koster, sculptures in Wood and Stone.