Medals by Linda Verkaaik

Sculptor Linda Verkaaik (1956) is fascinated by the idea of dualism. Verkaaik works in both large and small formats. She creates walkable, large installations in public spaces and engages in landscape art, freestanding sculptures, and medals. Regardless of the medium or format, the reality of duality always shines through. At the museum Beelden aan Zee, she presents medals.

Even during her studies at the Academy of Visual Arts in Utrecht, and later at the Rijksakademie in Amsterdam, Verkaaik often incorporated two worlds into her art: think of culture and nature, power and powerlessness, wisdom and stupidity, above water (life) and below water (death). A medal, with its front and back, is extremely suitable for visualizing this duality: image versus shadow image. Verkaaik is not necessarily positive in her dualistic worldview. According to the artist, one pole often deceives the other: “betrayal of death on life, betrayal from human to human, animal to animal, human to animal, nature to human, human to nature... betrayal of myself, betrayal by myself. Ego-alter ego.”

Verkaaik considers the edge of the medal as essential, as it limits and connects the poles of duality. The edge brings opposites together by allowing the front and reverse sides to merge.

Linda Verkaaik made her first medal in 1985. Later, she enjoyed designing medals in series. Many medals are related to her majestic sculptures and installations placed in the landscape.

Besides duality, the flowing movement, in dance, the water wave, the floating in a vacuum, is another theme in Verkaaik's oeuvre.

Stylistically and in material use, Linda Verkaaik distinguishes herself with a dynamic, expressive style, in which she combines various special materials, such as metal, steel, copper wire, mosaic, enamel, acrylic, and paper. She uses enamel in her bronze medals to create accents. She also makes openings in the surface to let light and shadow do their work.