Guda Koster
Guda Koster is a Dutch artist who creates living sculptures and performances, which the photographs are the results of. Koster’s works are created in parallels of time, space and textile.In her works Koster uses fabrics, colours and patterns that underline the codes and meanings our clothing conveys.
How would you describe your works?
I make installations, sculptures and photographs in which clothing plays an important part. Clothing doesn’t just have a function but also conveys a message. In our everyday lives we communicate identity and social position primarily by means of our clothing. Clothing can be seen as a visual art form that expresses the way we see ourselves and our relationship with the world around us.
What themes are you interested in exploring in your works?
I have a lot of books on clothing: not just on fashion but also on functional clothing like company uniforms, folk dresses, ritual cloths and of course books on other artist who work with textiles. Daily life, identity and transforming the human body are important themes in my work. A work may begin with the pattern of a fabric found on the market or it may start with an idea.
What techniques do you use?
I always sew the clothing myself and those will then be part of an installation or sculpture. I may also build a set, dress myself and photograph myself in the set with the self-timer. I use fabrics, colours, patterns and new cuts to underline the codes and meanings clothing conveys.
On the website you present a series of photographs. Can you comment on them?
In these photographs I am often ‘invisibly’ playing the leading role, dressed in self-made outfits, often photographed against a patterned background. The work looks professional and serious, but it is humorous as well. In de work Twins the pattern of the fabric is transformed into the windows of a skyscraper and in the work Snowwhite a furry coat is turned into an animal. You can see the photographs as little stories.
Your interest in fashion, interior design and architecture are evident in your works. What connects you to these disciplines?
You can also mention theatre, but the connection is the use of textiles and the relation people have with their surroundings. The clothed human figure becomes an integral part of a space or environment. I am inspired by daily life, but I exaggerate it or I give it a humorous twist.
What are your views and how would you describe tendencies in contemporary Dutch photography?
I have seen al lot of Dutch photography, but I don’t regard myself as a photographer. I am not interested in photographical ‘problems’. I make ‘living’ sculptures and the photograph is the result of the performance, therefore I am more a sculptor than a photographer. Therefore I am not so involved in Dutch photography and I don’t’ think there is a special ‘Dutch style’.
