BRAK
work in progress, 2026
BRAK is an experimental ceramic animation exploring the Afsluitdijk as both a connection and a border. Built to connect North Holland and Friesland, the dike simultaneously became a wall for underwater life, disrupting ancient migration routes between salt and fresh water. The film is made entirely from hand-painted ceramic tiles, with each tile forming a single frame of the animation. Together, hundreds of individual tiles create a fluid, morphing story about migration, human control and natural movement. While each image exists on screen for only a fraction of a second, the ceramic frame may survive for thousands of years. Like archaeological fragments, the tiles become physical carriers of a story one that can be found, rearranged and interpreted again in the future.
Developed during the Tussen Wad en Water residency at Studio1931, Den Oever.
Research
The Afsluitdijk radically transformed the landscape of the former Zuiderzee. Before its completion in 1932, the Zuiderzee formed a dynamic transition between rivers and the Wadden Sea, where fresh and salt water met and numerous species moved between inland waters and the sea. For humans, the dike brought safety, reclaimed land and a direct connection between North Holland and Friesland.
For much of the life beneath the surface, however, that same connection became a barrier. Migration routes were disrupted, the brackish ecosystem largely disappeared, and the Zuiderzee gradually transformed into the freshwater IJsselmeer. This contradiction lies at the heart of the project: how can the same line in a landscape represent connection for one species and separation for another?
Nearly a century later, the Fish Migration River cuts through this human-made boundary, attempting to restore some of the movement and ecological exchange that was once lost.
What tiles tell us
During my residency in Den Oever, I became interested in ceramic fragments found along shorelines and in former seabeds. Painted tiles can act as small historical records: carrying images of ships, religious stories, daily life and the things people once considered worth preserving. This made me wonder what story we would leave behind in clay today.
Looking at the Afsluitdijk from both human and non-human perspectives, I began to see the ceramic tile as a way to physically preserve its changing story. By turning each tile into an animation frame, an image becomes a lasting object, a fragment of the present that could potentially be unearthed and interpreted centuries from now.
Material experiments
I am currently developing a colour palette using engobes mixed with different pigments. Rather than treating the ceramic tile simply as a surface to paint on, I am exploring ways for the image to become part of the material itself. Using sgraffito, a technique in which drawings are scratched through layers of engobe, lines are physically carved into the surface of the tile.
Alongside these tests, I am experimenting with matte finishes and coloured glazes applied over the engobes. The different combinations of pigment, clay, glaze and firing create variations in depth, texture and transparency that cannot be fully predicted beforehand. These experiments will eventually form the visual language of the animation, in which every individual frame is drawn, carved and fired into ceramic.
