Merel Van de Casteele (1995, Kortrijk, Belgium) lives and creates in Kortrijk. In 2017 she graduated her master at Luca School of Arts.

'My work is an interaction of drawing and sculpture, exploring the layered relationship between human, object and environment. The cluster of images and objects enter into a world of knowing and recognizing, where they embody, through their installation and placement in relation to each other, ever-changing questions.'

Introduction FLOCK:

“I work on a world where things are made by an extreme focus on nature. From my perspective, that can only happen by rhizome thinking which results in a multiplicity of images and objects. Flock is the sculpture group which I take care of. When material becomes more than matter, I become a very loving mother. The members of ‘Flock’ are kept in their boxes which are, at the same time, their pedestals.

My flock is precious to me.

I don’t like to let go, believe me.

Caring is the only language I know.”

The Flock series of Merel Van de Casteele are functional sculptures that question the place of objects in this world.

The presence of materials, harsh and bestial shapes and nature are reoccurring themes. These result in silent objects, which she aims to be pure and asleep. In Flock, profoundness lies to be discovered through a multi-layered play of shadows and matter.

Taking the sculptures in and out of their boxes, along with the care and guidance for them, is a responsibility that tends to obsessive behaviour. The objects do not tend to attract much attention when they are not shown. Most of the time they are stacked away to maintain their safety and function as a small table or decorative box. The process of hiding and showing makes the outside of the boxes not just a fold of what is inside.

The search for an identification of the organic and inorganic materials assembled to create the members of the Flock family is what questions the relationship between humans and objects. The fascination for objects that can be put to use or be possessed is, in the world of Flock, a passionate game.

A sculpture of Flock is not for sale until an adoption file is been signed. An owner of a member of Flock needs to take responsibility for the object and its rituals.