Bio

Henriëlle van den Dragt is a Dutch visual artist based in Nijmegen, working with a strong focus on process, material and meaning. Raised near the forests of the Veluwe, her early connection to wood continues to shape her practice.

She began her artistic journey creating objects from reclaimed wood, restoring value to overlooked matter. Although her work has since evolved, this attentiveness to material remains fundamental to her approach.

In her current work, she develops sculptures using a self-developed wood fibre clay. Composed entirely of natural components, the material is free from synthetics and chemicals. Her interest in fungi, mycelium and lichens influences how her sculptures gather, cluster and expand.

Recurring throughout her practice is an interest in the relationship between mass and the individual, and our position within larger systems. Whether working with fibre-based sculpture or in other spatial projects, she explores how parts come together to form a whole — and how that whole remains subject to change.

Rather than aiming for permanence, Van den Dragt makes work that can exist without the need to last forever — a practice rooted in material awareness and the recognition of being part of larger cycles. In doing so, she questions the expectation that art must always be preserved, owned or held onto.