Bio

Erna Kuik (born 1967, Southern IJsselmeerpolders, the Netherlands)
I grew up in Lelystad, a city drawn with a ruler, built on reclaimed seabed. But I’ve always been drawn to the desire paths – those spontaneous tracks made by people and animals who choose intuition over order. That’s where my work begins: in the space between structure and instinct.

At ArtEZ University of the Arts, I studied Free Graphic Arts and was introduced to etching, lithography, and relief printing. Relief captured me most. The act of carving – of cutting into a surface – transforms a line into something raw, expressive, and alive. It’s a form of rewilding, both material and emotional. I graduated with honors and received the Gretha and Adri Pieck Prize for upcoming artists.

To me, art is a kind of relay – or a parallel universe – where ideas and forms are passed along, shifting shape as they go. When my dreams return while I work, I know I’m on the right path.

My practice moves between carving and painting.
Linocut and woodcut require structure, omission.
Painting invites openness, presence, addition.
These opposing forces – control and surrender – keep my work sharp and honest.

I often carve feminine forms – not as literal figures, but as embodied questions. What does it mean to be human? To inhabit a body? To become image?
In my prints, I also use language – short, distilled sentences that resonate with the visual, not to explain but to echo.

In painting, I discover forms I didn’t yet know. The canvas becomes a place where thoughts take shape before settling. It’s a process of waiting, sensing, then acting at exactly the right moment. That tension, that euphoria – it’s part of the making.

Every line, every form carries something from within. Not as a message, but as presence.
To touch those who are open to being touched.