World Fine Art Professionals and their Key-Pieces, 499 - Ingrid van den Oord

World Fine Art Professionals and their Key-Pieces, 499 – Ingrid van den Oord
In the exhibition Evolve of the foundation Kunstwerkt in Art Centre Schiedam I saw intriguing wooden sculptures by Ingrid van den Oord. About a year ago I had seen a special sculpture of hers of two compasses on two feet that were cut off at the ankle. Now I see other works by her hand.
I speak to Ingrid at the exhibition with many beautiful sculptures. We look at her sculptures from the heights on the second floor. Ingrid, in response to the work with the two compasses: “That is the work Where is North from here? It is about the shifting of the north and south poles of our earth. Scientists can read this from magnetically sensitive rocks. First, the magnetic field in and around the earth enters a chaotic period, then the poles flip: north becomes south and vice versa. Daily life is also on a switch.”

Getting a grip on the world
In her work, Ingrid tries to find out how she and her fellow human beings relate to situations in society. “I do that by looking around me and trying to understand how people experience things and also analyzing how science – from the smallest molecules to the universe – works. I want to get a grip on it. I am very curious about the other and what is different. I feel like everything is shifting very rapidly.”

Wood
Three quarters of a year before graduating, she came into contact with wood. “My grandmother had cut down a tree in her garden, a Magnolia. ‘Is this something for you?’ she asked. I learned everything about wood carving myself. It’s a matter of looking carefully and trying things out. I really enjoy working with wood.”
She prefers to work with walnut, oak, ash, beech and robinia wood. Robust hardwood. Pine and lime wood are too soft. From that first piece of wood from her grandmother’s garden she made a sculpture of a figure lying on an arm, a frightened figure. “I showed the shock that the figure experienced.” She graduated with that sculpture.

Working from a Concept
Many sculptors work from the material. That is not the case with Ingrid. She works from a Concept. First she makes a sketch and then she looks for the wood. “Most of the wood was given to me. It also spreads a bit. A farm in Den Bosch was demolished. I heard: ‘I have beautiful wood for you’. You don’t say no to walnut wood. You can make beautiful works with beech wood. I would like to work with fruit tree wood, but the trunk is usually too thin.”

The works
She doesn’t have a key work, she says, but she does have important works. For example Where is North from here?, which was already mentioned. From the second floor of the Arts Center we look at her sculptures, including:
Time is matter, a recent sculpture (2024) that stands on a triangular base. It is made of walnut and plywood. It shows arms crossed in a special kind of knot, placed upright. It represents the complexity of life. “What is time? How do you experience time? Growth is time and you experience it.”
If I knew then what I know now, two feet with the toes pushed together (2020), made of ash wood, with a mirror underneath. “This image is made from an old work. Through the mirror, a part can be seen that has been preserved and now plays a (new) role. It refers to the impossibility of returning to the past and making different decisions with the knowledge of today.”
They say it will be alright, a work from 2007. Two breasts hang from rings on two wooden planks on the wall. Made of robinia wood. “One breast has been cut crosswise and reattached with thick white threads. It doesn’t look like it will ever be alright. The second breast is intact and looks strong. Who do you trust in your most vulnerable moments?”
Just take it, a 1998 sculpture made of ash wood. “A flower shape with five large full breasts. It is about my admiration for the woman’s capacity to sacrifice for her offspring.”
A Pietà from 2010, made of oak with a white cotton fabric on Mary’s lap. “In art, the Pietà is known as the mother Mary, who mourns her deceased son. In these depictions, he lies draped over her lap when he has been taken down from the cross. For me, the Pietà is purely a woman in mourning. I wanted to bring the mourning Mary into this time, a woman of this and all times. She mourns all loss, of children, partners, parents. I consciously used this archetype to translate the intense mourning process into a sculpture. An imprint of a face has been made in the place of her left breast. An impression where her heart is.”

A heel with a gemstone
And in the window I see a foot. The title of the sculpture is Identity, it is made of walnut and beech wood (2013). A foot with a gemstone of blue zircon set in silver in the heel. “It is the place where you make contact with the earth. Which path do you walk? How do you walk? There is a straight line from the heel to your crown, the axis of the human body.”

Communicating with the viewers
Ingrid van den Oord originally comes from Ammerzoden in the river area. After graduating, she ended up in the Hoeksche Waard via Heusden-Vesting and Tilburg. From 1996 onwards, she dared to go public with her work and has since participated in many exhibitions, once or twice a year. “I like to communicate with my work. I hear from viewers that the sculptures give them cause for associations, they start thinking about it. I think it’s great that that happens. Sometimes it leads to intense emotions, which can even scare me.” Ingrid also regularly performs as a poet. During a lecture in the exhibition Evolve, she read some poems. Her fifth collection will be published in the autumn of 2025.
What is her experience of the art world?
“It is important that I can give myself a place in the world through my work. The art world is quite complex. Galleries and exhibition spaces work very selectively, they shield themselves quite a bit. It is sometimes a cold and hard world. I experience the association KunstWerkt, of which I am a member, as a warm, close-knit group.”

Finally, what is her philosophy?
Ingrid: “People quickly walk past everything in a museum. I would say, choose a work, you don’t have to have seen everything. Don’t consume art, but experience art.”
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Images
1)Inside Out, 2023, 2) Pietà, 2010, 3) Time is matter, 2024, 4) If I knew then what I know now, 2020, 5) Identity, 2013, 6) They say it will be alright, 2007, 7) Just take it, 1998, 8) portrait picture Ingrid van den oord

https://www.ingridvandenoord.com/
https://stichtingkunstwerkt.nl/deelnemers/ivdoord
https://www.instagram.com/ingrid4art/
https://stichtingkunstwerkt.nl/exposities
https://inzaken.eu/2024/11/19/ingrid-van-den-oord-consumeer-geen-kunst-maar-ervaar-kunst/