Toon mij wie je bent

photography/pinholes and text Miek van Dongen

With her mother’s dementia as the motive, Miek van Dongen has delved into the world that is hidden behind a dementia process. To closely monitor the changes in the dementia process, she made a pinhole on every visit during her mother’s last year of life; about 45 pieces. With the book Toon mij wie je bent she puts her finger on the sore spot. The subtle shifts are visible and enhanced by the authentic artisanal pinhole technique (made on photosensitive paper in a box with a small hole). The effect is unpredictable and surprising. The more the person with dementia stops and blurs, the sharper the image becomes.

Miek van Dongen has examined the experiences and amazement during this process essayistically and elaborated them in fragments; into a universal subject in which both parent and child, as well as the reader and spectator, are questioned about everyone’s own reality. The title Toon mij wie je bent indicates that a new view of reality is needed.

This intimate art project brings the world of dementia very humanly close.

Dutch

Miek van Dongen finished her study autonomous art at AKV St Joost ‘s-Hertogenbosch in 2013. As a visual artist she is engaged in the genius loci; the spirit of the place. In her work she explores the meaning of situations in change. In this way she appropriates displaced landscapes again and portrays the absent presence of abruptly abandoned houses. In Toon mij wie je bent, she pays attention to her mother’s being, who changes as a result of dementia. Starting from photography, she uses different media to apply new layers that shed an unprecedented light on the changing world around us.

format 160 x 210 mm size 96 pages softcover with flaps designp Bart Smit / De Twee Snoeken release October NUR 653 ISBN 978-94-6226-421-2 € 20,00