Dazzled & Deluded
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Anthropocene is a body of work of handmade collages about the paradox that we love nature and show that love, but at the same time exploit and destroy it. We don’t mean to, but we tend to look away and procrastinate doing what we know is necessary. We do worry about it all and try to do our best, but not if we have to sacrifice our immediate happiness and carefree feelings. We understand change is important, but it’s difficult to change, isn’t it? We live in scary times and feel the need to hold on to our old ways because they make us feel safe. Even though we know we’ll have to start living a new, sustainable life that’s so much better for all we love.
The name Anthropocene, from the ancient Greek anthropo- meaning ‘human’ and -cene from (kainos) meaning ‘new’ or ‘recent’, is the period of time during which human activities have had an environmental impact on the Earth. Even though this is not officially accepted, it’s regarded as constituting a distinct geological age.
My inspiration for this collection is a quote by Dutch writer A. Den Doolaard: “We lived among miracles, but we never understood them”
Dazzled & Deluded, series 6
Paper on vintage book covers, several sizes
This is the sixth series in Anthropocene. Before influencers and their marketing became huge on social media we looked at movie stars for inspiration. Wanting to look like them, dress like them, be like them. We hardly knew anything about their personal life, so often it remained a distant dream.
Influencers on social media share their private life with their audience. This makes us feel they’re just like us and this also makes it easier to influence us to buy a specific product, use special supplements or follow a line of thinking or a way of life.
We can become blinded by the products, the lifestyle and the opinions they sell, we hardly see what the consequences can be. We all want happiness and health, it’s understandable to fall for the idea of a solution for life problems. But we don’t see (or want to see) that what we ‘really need’ can have a huge impact on the environment, on people. We don’t really think how waste from our products is polluting our planet or about people, children even, who delve cobalt for our phones and sew our clothes for hardly any wage under horrible conditions just so we can buy this dream. Because we’re worth it.
I used vintage photos of moviestars and icons on a background of old book covers, weathered both organically and intentionally, inspired by the walls of so many gorgeous timeworn buildings of Venice, a city with a long history of wealth and trade.
‘Dazzled and deluded by appearances’ comes from a quote by Epictetus
Liz, Sophia and Grace were shortlisted for the Women United Art Prize 2024
This series was made in 2024




























































































