Eelco Hilgersom was born in 1979 in Amsterdam. And since childhood, he has been fascinated by the architecture and structures that nature creates. This fascination drives him to create abstract works based on these natural forms and organisms. In all of his work, Eelco is looking for contrasts in shapes, color or material. “My aim is to touch the observers and take them into the work through the contrasts and complexity of the piece.” To achieve this goal he uses different techniques and materials. He is constantly looking for the challenge of working with new materials. This makes it necessary to learn the material by heart and discover the possibilities of the material he wants to work with. What matters is the end result he wants to achieve. Each concept that he wants to develop requires a different approach, which is why he works with different materials. “Because I don’t impose any guidelines or boundaries on myself, I can go wild with my ideas.”
The artworks from the Habitat family are inspired by the many wonderful organisms that nature creates. The color, structure and capabilities of the skins of these organisms give each being its own ability to convey a message. Colors are used to scare an enemy or to seduce a partner. The brighter the color, the better the message gets across. In the Habitat family, different structures and colors of the organisms are mixed and depicted in an abstract way. The organic shapes, colors and the reflective surface create a new kind of creature that wants to convey a message or an emotion. Every shape and color conveys a different emotion and that is why each creature from the Habitat family has its own name, which equates to an emotion it wants to convey. Such as Braver, Fierce or Juicy. The reflective surface allows the viewer to see himself hundreds and sometimes thousands of times, really establishing the connection with the emotion that the creature conveys.
The abstract artworks from the Bloodline series are inspired by the fantastic fungi. In all the mushroom producing fungi the fruit bodies are the structures that are produced from fungal mycelium. These structures are only produced in the right environmental conditions of temperature, humidity and nutrient availability. Fungi perform an essential role in the decomposition of organic matter and have a fundamental role in nutrient cycling and exchange in the environment. You can find these delicate structures in so many different shapes, colors and textures. One more beautiful then the other. One of the most intriguing fungi has to be the bleeding tooth fungus. This fungus is the source of inspiration for these artworks. The base of the artwork is an organic shape from which the pearls seem to emerge. By abstracting the colors and shapes, the fungus seems to come from another planet and flourishing in the right conditions.
“I would describe my artworks as an abstract reflection of the wondrous beauty of nature.”
