Annalie van Doorn

Après nous, le déluge.

A sentence that I have been hearing my grandmother say as long as I can remember. According to her it is not decent to say, but let’s be honest, is this not how a big part of the Western World thinks on how we take care of this planet? Originally it is a French expression, attributed to Madame de Pompadour during the Battle of Rossbach, which was disastrous for the French. There are two possible interpretations to this archaic statement, one “after my reign, the nation will be plunged into chaos and destruction”; or “After me, let the deluge come”.

Besides this sentence my 92 year old grandmother has been very inspiring to me since I was little. As she is too old to leave the house her family, who she receives visits from, are the only witnesses of her extravagance. Every morning the same ritual takes her hours. What has been driven her to keep up her appearance? What drives humanity to keep up their appearance? We dress up crazy for Kentucky Derbies to only witness 2 minutes of pure animal abuse and spend a lot of money. Our status drives us mad in the mist sometimes. The strength in its obsession and the power of its control. The abundance of contrast in our values and the irony of its expressions. Therefore I researched on the psychological influence of social status on our behavior in the west and how this is expressed in my surroundings.

From abstract drawings from my concept to innovative shapes. These shapes are the core of my work and are implemented in silhouette and print. A collection almost entirely made out of waste material.