Jip van der Hek

Jip van der Hek (b. 1995) is a multidisciplinary artist based in Rotterdam. They recently graduated from the DAI Art Praxis Master’s programme at the Dutch Art Institute. Their practice is rooted in the social sphere — creating figurative, narrative wearable textile works that reflect on friendship, the city, growing up, feminism, and our relationship with the inexplicable and the natural world. The garments function as fields of research for larger autonomous works, installations, scripts, performances and collaborations. Their work is driven by a desire to surround events — large or small — with as many perspectives as possible, because complexity, in all its richness, is where inspiration thrives.

Jip is part of SOHERE, an organic research collective that operates from the perspective of constructive activism — shaping learning environments and ways of being together that align with the values and questions arising from their surroundings. In addition, Jip is creative leader at Kunstlab+Buren, a free drop-in workshop for children in Rotterdam-Zuid (Slinge), which emerged from a collaboration with SOHERE.

A recurring theme throughout their practice is Sean — a working-class drag king alter ego who refuses to perform productivity for a system that was never there for him, and through whom Jip explores questions surrounding decommodified labour, debt, and what we owe one another whilst we are here.
They have presented their work at contemporary art platforms such as TENT, WORM, HET ARCHIEF (Rotterdam), and in socio-cultural workshops such as WERKSTATT KASSEL (Kassel, Germany).