Sterre Arentsen is a dutch artist whose photographic work aims to capture emotions where they seem to be out of place, often carried by an air of melancholy. Sterre manages to find character in what surrounds us, turning the world upside down as it were. To achieve this, she takes a very scientific approach that explores the irrational as second nature. Where the laws of physics paint a very clear and specific picture of the world, her imagery shows us its negative. Appropriately, most of the works come to life at night.

When I walk through my neighborhood, I see plants everywhere. Next to the street, in people’s windows – wherever I look there is some excerpt of nature in my sight. My home is no different, yet what I feel is a disconnection from nature. I find myself looking at digital images of plants more often than I look at actual plants. And by ‘look’ I mean more than just taking a glimpse. I mean observing its details, its uniqueness, really taking in the essence of it. When I first became aware of the beauty of nature as a child, it must have been an incredible experience. For all of us, probably. That is something that we don’t seem to have forgotten completely, as we surround ourselves with small excerpts of its opus. However, putting plants in plant pots and putting them on display is very much the same thing as buying a Van Gogh coffee mug or choosing starry night as the background image on our phones. Something that used to be special becomes a gimmick and fades into the context we create for it. It’s like puzzle pieces of different images being forced together. Most times the composition it creates is just an awkward reminder that plants and concrete don’t combine. Sometimes though, I see a beautiful mosaic.