Leen Van Tichelen - A conative interaction

Leen Van Tichelen (°1981) works from a deep connection with the materials that surround her and the space in which she lives and creates. Her artistic practice is a continuous interplay between insight, intention, and movement. With great precision, she intuitively searches for balance using leftover and discarded materials. She does not create forms; rather, they emerge through the process of searching. Van Tichelen allows her materials to be themselves while thoughtfully and decisively guiding them. This authenticity results in robust structures and delicate drawings, making visible what is otherwise absent.

This exhibition opened with ACT OF A CONATIVE SEQUENCE BASE BLOCK II, a performance in which Van Tichelen unfolds the physical act of rearranging materials. Moving stones from one pedestal to another illustrates how the artist is constantly building and rebuilding, thinking and rethinking. The concentration required to execute this act is almost tangible. The word *conative* in the title refers to the mental process that motivates one to want to do something or decide to act. The conative is deeply rooted in our instincts. Consequently, the performance is a physical action that centers on growth versus decay and vulnerability versus strength. This is why vertebrae and the spine often reappear in Van Tichelen’s work, stemming from a fascination with what the human body can bear and endure. Carrying and persevering run as a common thread through her oeuvre, where the foundation serves as both a starting point and an outcome.

Upon entering the gallery, one immediately encounters conative 18 (2018), a sculpture consisting of two concrete blocks held together by slightly frayed fabric. There is a solid poetry embedded within it, founded on interaction. In STACK II (2024), each block contributes in its own way to the sculpture’s balance, as if one stone can only remain upright with the support of the other. Much like a spine, the blocks provide grounding, yet they are fragile and subject to the processes they undergo. The sculptures exude an inherent naturalness. They are stacks that carry a sense of completeness, like strong, self-supporting shoulders.

Van Tichelen’s fascination with what humans can (or cannot) endure is evident in her series BLACK BRAIN (2015), vertebrae (2016), and Larynx (2016). In BLACK BRAIN, she explores the gray matter of individuals who cause suffering and destruction. The brains, depicted in glossy, dark paint, appear to be covered in tar, evoking the elusive nature of the human mind. They reveal a glimpse of the unsettling yet intriguing link between the psyche and the physical brain, with its mirrored hemispheres—reflections that are false twins. The works in the Larynx series have a similar effect. Each piece consists of two halves forming a larynx so large that one could almost disappear into it—not under the comfort of a warm blanket, but within an overwhelming sense of constriction. These works evoke the suffocating sensation of powerlessness, like a straitjacket made of abrasive paper.

The collage series 80 pieces of ten birds falling down in four different ways (2016) is based on forty drawings from Ten birds falling down in four different ways (2016). The drawings examine how a single shape can express different movements; from one basic form, four new ones emerged, each with its own dynamic shift. For the collages, two sections from each drawing were isolated as standalone works, where movement occurs in all directions—up and down, inward and outward. Some works in this series are made on brown stucco paper, while others are on glossy aluminum foil—a surface Van Tichelen often prefers over traditional paper. She embraces this material as a faithful foundation, carefully preserving it for future works. In this way, all works become interconnected. The piece numbered B5 F4 P2 doubles the standard form, integrating the wall into the composition—the negative space gains equal value to the artwork itself. Both elements hold each other in balance.

Van Tichelen’s process is comparable to minimal land art, but with a personal twist, where fragments and remnants from her surroundings evolve into sculptures that redefine space. She accepts and celebrates the movement of her materials. This results in an oeuvre that invites reflection on the fragility of life, the search for balance, and the inevitable dynamics of falling and rising again.

Yasmin Van ‘tveld