Zeli Bauwens
About the artist
Zeli Bauwens grew up as the daughter of a gardener and a florist in a garden centre. The environment she grew up in shaped the visual language of her works, which manifest as landscape sculptures and installations. To this day, the Belgian landscape and its rich garden culture remain the source of all her inspiration.
Zeli Bauwens (1992) lives in Ghent. She earned a bachelor's in textile design at Sint Lucas Gent and subsequently her master's in sculpture.
Starting point of the work
Drogisterij In 't Zonneke immediately fires the imagination with shelves full of little bottles, jars, canisters, buckets and brushes. The shop has a nostalgic feel, reminding me on one hand of the garden centre where I grew up, and on the other of the first sculptures I made during my visual arts studies. Those first sculptures started from everyday objects, playfully and humorously toying with their functions.
“The shop reminds me of the garden centre where I grew up, and also of the first sculptures I made.”
Drogisterij In ’t Zonneke
This is Drogisterij In 't Zonneke, for all your household needs. A wondrous shop where you walk in with a question and then find yourself amazed by everything you come across. The shop has a colourful history: at one time it sold garden gnomes and tools alongside household goods. A specialty shop that makes you suspect: if they don't have it here, it probably doesn't exist.