Merel Van de Casteele

Merel Van de Casteele (°1995, Kortrijk) works on a two-part oeuvre consisting of sculptures on the one hand and drawings on the other. Her practice consists of an interaction between both disciplines, in which she explores the layered relationship between people, objects and the environment. She considers her sculptures from the FLOCK group to be her children and only entrusts them to foster and adoptive families.

Detailed forms 

At first glance, the detailed and finely meshed grey pencil drawings seem quite distant from the sometimes somewhat coarse-looking sculptures. Merel displays these on wooden boxes, which immediately convey a sense of distance.

At first glance, the detailed and finely drawn grey pencil drawings seem quite distant from the sometimes somewhat rough-looking sculptures. Merel displays them on wooden boxes, which also serve as “houses”, “shelters” or even “furniture”. At second glance, however, the drawn forms do indeed appear to be related to the three-dimensional versions. The meticulous forms that Merel draws combine references to flowers, seeds and fruits, as well as organisms and strange insects.

Metamorphoses

Many drawings are dedicated to Ovidius, who updated the Greek mythological stories about shape-shifting in his Metamorphoses around the year 0.

It is clear that these drawings are a kind of research in which the visual language is gradually undergoing changes. “My work revolves around a mental lexicon of a visual language that I am constantly trying to improve. These drawings are clearly a kind of investigation in which the visual language is gradually subject to change. ‘My work revolves around a mental lexicon of visual language that I am trying to understand better and better,’ Merel writes about this. ‘I try to sketch it down as writing, so that information can be passed on across the boundaries of time and space. When drawing, there is an interaction between the visible and the invisible, and how the mind tries to fill in this image. It is about a metamorphosis of forms.’ The simple materials of the sculptures, but also paper and pencil, form the medium that enables Merel to play with discovery. In her images, both the drawings and the sculptures, Merel explores the boundaries of what their meaning might be, in a realm between doubt and recognition.

2025:

‘The Final show’, Compost Space, Antwerp BE

‘The last beach’, De Poortersloge, Brugge BE

‘(Expo)nentieel’, Nodenaysteen, Gent BE

2023:

‘Malabou in Malibu’, De Fabriek, Eindhoven NL

‘BUY LOCAL’, Kunsthal, Gent, BE

‘Rafelen’, Texture museum van vlas en textiel, Kortrijk BE

2022:

Plussing’, WARP, Sint-Niklaas BE

‘Stimulans’, de Paardenstallen, Kortrijk BE

‘LOSS Kunstenfestival’, SABK, Zottegem BE

‘Onbegrensd’, Museumhuis Lucien De Gheus, Poperinge BE

‘Salon des Jeunes’, MSK, Gent BE

‘Biënnale van België: De sokkel’, S.M.A.K., Gent BE

‘Dertig onder dertig’, Kunstenhuis, Harelbeke BE

2021:

‘Ronse Drawing Prize’, Ronse, BE

‘Input/output’, De Poortersloge, Brugge BE

‘(F)utility’, BLANCO, Gent BE

‘LUSTRUM’, de Zebrastraat, Gent BE

‘ART@WORK’, Domein De Cellen, Oostkamp BE

‘We Only Know What We See’, Ontsteking, Gent BE

2020:

‘UNPACKED’, Bruthaus gallery, Waregem BE

‘De gebroken houtdraad’, Atelier José Vermeersch, Lendelede BE

‘Stimulans 20’, de Paardenstallen, Kortrijk BE

2019:

‘Ronse Drawing Prize – Grote Prijs Actuele Tekenkunst’,

Honourable mention, Ronse, BE

‘Food Matters – all you need is the lavatory’, Croxhapox, Gent BE

2018:

‘Ronse Drawing Prize – Grote Prijs Actuele Tekenkunst’, Ronse, BE

‘Stimulans 18’ Honourable mention, de Paardenstallen, Kortrijk BE

‘Kunstenaar van de maand’, de Zebrastraat, Gent BE

2017:

‘Front’ at the Concertbuilding, Brugge BE

‘Window walk’, Olivier Strelli, Gent BE

‘Seeing things invisible’, S.M.A.K., Gent BE

‘The Graduate(s)’, The Carpenter workshop gallery, Londen UK

‘Graduation Show’, LUCA School of Arts, Gent BE

‘MMENC’, In De Ruimte, Gent BE

‘Ping Pong’, Jan Colle Gallerij, Gent BE

‘Outside PARIA(h)’, Les Brasseurs, Luik BE

‘Make shift’ with Paul Bogaers, Tilburg NL

2016:

‘Master Apprentice’, Kunstpodium T, Tilburg NL

‘Ocean Circulations’, De Sokkel, Gent BE

2013:

Winner of the Final Kunstbende Fine arts, Oostende

Selected for ‘De Stoute Stift’, Hard Hoofd, Stripgids, Stichting Nieuwe helden, 2024.

Cover for Anger’s Family Tree (LP) W.E.R.F. Records, 2024.

Artmagazine, genèse & métamorphose, Bureau Communes, Paris, 2023.

Illustration for Marres, Maastricht, 2022.

Kunstcahiers of The Artcouch, 2021.

Memento illustration, 2021-2025.