I’m Rik (1990), a visual artist with a production studio in Rotterdam. I create alternative realities through photography, film, and design. By using my intuition I can create visuals that break with the rules of space and time, and that melts a diversity of styles together.
When I was young my grandfather was the first person to introduce me to photography. I soon discovered that photography has been passed on by different generations in my family and I decided to pursue a career in photography as well.
After getting my degree in Audio Visual production I was determined to continue my personal development and enrolled at the Willem de Kooning Academy to study photography.
After four years of university where I focused on fashion photography, I decided to graduate with a conceptual photography series. The main reason for this choice was to create a series that tells a story and was created from the base.
Creating visuals gives me the ability to stimulate the viewer to think about certain issues they would normally not think about and appeal to the imagination and subconsciousness of the mind. With my visuals I want the viewer to feel like their observing another dimension and show them my perception of reality.
Craftsmanship is very important for me as a visual artist. Creating the props, set design and costumes is the most time consuming and essential part of my practice. By creating everything in my studio I allow myself to reflect during the process of visualization.
In the end, I will use lens-based media to capture everything I created earlier in my studio.
Most of my inspiration is drawn from myths, theories, and social-political issues. The visuals I create have an aesthetic and styled feel which can be used for artistic and commercial purposes.
My studio is located in the city centre of Rotterdam. All the images I create will find their starting point here.
With a strong techincal background in studio lighting I’m able to create all kinds of settings and worlds in my studio.
My studio, which is located in an old school building at the Drievriendenstraat, is fully equiped with professional studio lights, backdrop, film lights. The studio offers a lot of room for set building, film and photography.
Every once in a while I will work on location but the studio is the place where I feel most at home and am able to create everything that’s on my mind.
