INTERVIEW WITH:
JEROEN CAVENTS
Spaces Between: Jeroen Cavents on Art, Curation, and Aesthetic Curiosity
Cluster London speaks with Jeroen Cavents, an artist and curator whose practice explores the unseen narratives within everyday spaces. Drawing on his background in Curatorial Studies, Jeroen combines research and innovative processes to create art that bridges the tangible and intangible.
From faded thermal prints in Trafo to embossed paper works in Typology of Approx. 12m², his projects uncover beauty in the overlooked. Through his dual role as artist and curator, Jeroen fosters connections between art, audience, and environment, transforming ordinary scenes into sources of inspiration.
PICT0008
SWEET CHESTNUT | 2024 | SALT PRINT ON PAPER
Hi Jeroen! You hold a Master’s degree in Curatorial Studies from HGB Leipzig. How does this background inform your work as an artist?
My background in Curatorial Studies offers a critical and contextual lens through which I approach both the creation and presentation of my work. This perspective allows me to explore each project’s concept deeply, weaving together multiple viewpoints and layers of meaning. Curatorial thinking also guides how I adapt my work to the physical characteristics of each venue, resulting in site-specific pieces that respond directly to their surroundings. I treat each artwork as part of an ongoing dialogue—both within a larger body of work and with the audience—creating nuanced connections that invite viewers to engage from various perspectives.
A current project during my residency in southwest England exemplifies this approach. Inspired by the arboretum on the grounds of Canford School, I’ve engaged with experts in dendrology, explored the school’s archives, and immersed myself in the rich local history. This research has led me to experiment with dye techniques using tree extracts and to create paper from fallen leaves in the arboretum. These elements will form a larger body of work that integrates both the physical and historical significance of the environment, making the context an essential part of the project’s identity.
Not only a Photographer but you also work as a curator. What do you believe is the primary role of a curator in today’s art world? How do you define your curatorial philosophy?
Today’s curator is not just an organiser but an intermediary, bridging the gap between artwork and audience, adding layers of interpretation and fostering accessibility. My curatorial philosophy focuses on creating dialogue through art, with the curator as a catalyst who connects diverse ideas and voices. I aim to transcend traditional exhibition formats, presenting innovative, thought-provoking experiences that highlight overlooked narratives and encourage social and political discourse. Each project is sensitive to its spatial, temporal, and cultural context, resulting in an adaptive and inclusive practice that resonates with broader audiences and sparks meaningful conversation.
The project Bedeutungsgeflecht, for instance, consists of multiple books created by various artists and writers in a modular, open-source format designed to be interleaved and combined. This project explores and questions traditional narrative structures, examining the roles of author, reader, and subject. It seeks to experiment with the book as both a curatorial and inspirational medium, moving away from singular authorial or curatorial intentions to emphasise the significance of gaps between materials and the creative process of bridging them.
BEDEUTUNGSGEFLECHT | 2021 | EXHIBITION VIEW
TRAFO | 2022 | PRINT ON THERMAL PAPER
You emphasise the exploration of aesthetics in overlooked places. Can you share some specific examples from your work that illustrate this theme?
In my series Trafo and Typology of Approx. 12m2, I explore the hidden beauty and historical significance of structures that are often overlooked or forgotten. Trafo documents mid-20th-century electricity houses that once played a crucial role in local infrastructure but are now obsolete and fading from public memory. I capture them in thermal prints that gradually fade with UV exposure, symbolising their physical and collective disappearance from the landscape. Typology of Approx. 12m2 takes an investigative approach to modest architectural elements within small, enclosed spaces across different cultural contexts, prompting questions about how we assign value and function to such spaces. By embossing these elements on paper, I emphasise their often-overlooked nature, inviting viewers to reflect on their quiet narratives and transformative potential across varied environments.
TYPOLOGY OF APPROX. 12M 2 | 2024 | EMBOSSING ON PAPER | INSTALLATION VIEW
PINK SERIES | 2023 | C-PRINTS
What do you hope viewers take away from your work? How do you envision your art influencing their perspectives?
I hope viewers leave with a renewed curiosity and a shifted perspective on the familiar, better equipped to notice hidden beauty in the spaces around them. By focusing on overlooked elements and challenging conventional aesthetics, I aim to inspire a deeper attentiveness to the world. My work encourages viewers to question the obvious, to look beyond the surface, and to embrace a lingering curiosity. Ideally, this perspective shift allows them to see the spaces and objects they encounter daily in a new light, expanding their aesthetic awareness to celebrate what they might have once disregarded.
What drives your curiosity about the ordinary, and how do you seek to reveal beauty in scenes that might otherwise go unnoticed?
I am drawn to the potential of the overlooked—the quiet stories and subtle details in mundane spaces that, when given attention, reveal unexpected beauty. My process begins with close observation, finding intrigue in elements typically unseen, like light reflecting off surfaces or architectural fragments that stand as silent witnesses to history. I capture these unnoticed aesthetics to uncover the richness within the ordinary, assembling photographs from different environments to inspire viewers to construct their own interpretations. This approach invites a rethinking of the invisible, celebrating the unique aesthetics that exist within everyday scenes.
“My curatorial philosophy focuses on creating dialogue through art, with the curator as a catalyst who connects diverse ideas and voices.”
PICT0072 | 2020 | C-PRINT
Your practice seems to explore the intangible spaces between inner and outer dimensions. How do you translate these abstract concepts into tangible art?
Translating these abstract spaces involves creating physical representations that echo the nuances of liminality—a threshold where reality and imagination intersect. Through techniques such as manipulating light, texture, and spatial arrangement, I evoke a sense of “in-betweenness” that blends inner and outer dimensions. My use of ephemeral processes, like alternative photographic techniques or the use of high-speed black and white film and the framing of enclosed architectural elements, invites viewers into an ambiguous space where boundaries soften, allowing new interpretations to emerge. Some of my earlier work focused on reflections on glass, an ideal liminal space that merges interior and exterior within a single image, framing a space that exists only in the moment of reflection. This approach creates a contemplative zone, a parallel realm where the tangible and intangible coexist, encouraging viewers to reimagine their experience of space.
Thank you for reading,
Alexandra, Ema & the Cluster Team.