© Liza Wolters
Sarah Rose Guitian Nederlof (b. 1993, Madrid) is a visual artist and contemporary archaeologist. She researches the ambiguity of living with two cultures. In doing so, she depicts complex issues surrounding human existence through everyday (disposable) objects: for example, the plastic bag stands as a metaphor for the quest to belonging or to feel at home somewhere.
Sarah was born and raised in Spain and moved to the Netherlands in 2012. From her bicultural background and the constant duality she experiences in the process, existential, universal questions arise around the right to exist somewhere. Who am I and where do I belong? These are questions to which every person can relate, because ultimately everyone is looking for a home.
By capturing trivial objects, contemporary phenomena and human behaviour — in photography, sculpture, video, sound, text and performance — and bringing them together in spatial collages, the artist shapes an archive of the now. Sarah sees the attentive study of the 'ordinary' as a method to get a grip on the continuous mutability of the reality around us. What would be unearthed in a few centuries, by future archaeologists? What traces do humans leave behind in public spaces? The artist approaches disposable plastic items, packaging materials and synthetic fabrics made for single use such as fruit nets, not as waste but as material for new, interdisciplinary work.
In them, those nondescript, functionless objects, Sarah recognises aspects of her own body: a sense of unremarkability, of a presence forgotten. A plastic bag blown away as a body that has lost its function, overlooked, rendered useless. With care, attention and dedication, the artist discovers the properties, behaviour and identity of the material. The themes she addresses are (bicultural) identity, belongingness, material culture, discomfort and physicality. She translates her thoughts on these topics into colourful, playful and accessible site-specific installations, in order to use lightness to address more complex issues and create awareness in the viewer about terms such as phenomenology, and topophilia, which is defined as the affective bond with one's environment (on a mental, emotional and cognitive level).
From different perspectives, Sarah explores material culture, which focuses on what the objects in our environment say about ourselves. The things we collect around us as humans reflect our views of the world; the things around us influence the way we understand the world. This concept was described in 1966 by philosopher Michel Foucault in Les mots et les choses. Une archéologie des sciences humaines [The Order of Things: An Archaeology of the Human Sciences]. Foucault describes how “things rule us” and how language affects the human experience of reality. This thinking is the foundation of Sarah's artistic practice. She chooses an object - for example, a napkin - and studies it as an archaeological find: in meaning, size, material and form. What does the napkin tell us about our (food) culture and customs? What function does this disposable product still have? What are the traditional differences between how the napkin is used in the Netherlands and in Spain?
Sarah's artistic practice remains in constant, swaying motion so that from one project comes another. She conducts a silent protest against a society that sleeps, namely Western society. Western people are used to experiencing discomfort and look away from uncomfortable situations. The artist gives the viewer a decisive message: dare to look at your surroundings, confront yourself with habits and nature by consciously living in the here and now.
All texts on this website are written by Puck Kroon (unless otherwise stated).

Curriculum Vitae
Exhibitions
2024        The Things That Find Us', Rotterdam, NL (G)
2023        Open Studio, Het Wilde Weten, Rotterdam, NL (S)
2023        The Manifest of Remembrance, Tiny Art Gallery x Fig Sofia, Sofia, BG (G)
2022        La Sobremesa, Witte Rook x Stedelijk Museum Breda, Breda, NL (S)
2022        An Unforeseen Encounter, Wild Summer of Art BRUTUS, Rotterdam, NL (G)
2022        An Unforeseen Encounter, Offscreen x PPR CBK, WORM, Rotterdam, NL (G)
2022        An Unforeseen Encounter, The Orchid and the Wasp, NDSM, Amsterdam, NL (S)
2022        Prospects and Concepts, Art Rotterdam, Rotterdam, NL (G)
2021        Raam Expo NE Studio, Rotterdam, NL (G)
2021        Sensory Threshold LAB, De Fabriek, Eindhoven, NL (G)
2021        An Unforeseen Encounter, Daily Practice, Rotterdam, NL (S)
2021        Publieke Werken, Rotterdam, NL (G)
2021        Open Studio, AADK Blanca, Murcia, ES (G)
2021        Welkom, De Vitrine Cultuur Werkplaats Tarwewijk, Rotterdam, NL (S)
2020        The Right Orange, M_M Art Space, Kattendijke, NL (G)
2020        The Right Orange, Raam Maar, Rotterdam, NL (S)
2020        The Right Orange, The Tiny Art Gallery, The Hague, NL (G)
2019        Presentation research project on distance, De Zure Bom, Rotterdam, NL (S)
2019        #wheredoyoucomefrom, The Orchid and the Wasp, NDSM, Amsterdam, NL (S)
2019        Museum night, AADK Blanca, Murcia, ES (G)
2019        Open Studios Borgerstraat during Art Rotterdam, Rotterdam, NL (G)
2018        KIOSK, Galerie Lecq, Rotterdam, NL (G)
2018        OMWTTGS, Final show Bcademie, Garage, Rotterdam, NL (G)
2018        BAF Banier Art Festival, Bcademie, Rotterdam, NL
2018        On Ownership, The Orchid and the Wasp, Amsterdam, NL (D)
2017        The First Show, Bcademie, 18th Street Gallery, Los Angeles, US (G)
2017        Unnoticed Art performance, Platform Projects Athens, Athens, GR (G)
2016        Retina #4 during Libros Mutantes, La Casa encendida, Madrid, ES (G)
2016        Retina #3 OT301, Amsterdam, NL (G)
2016        Hoboken Apocalypse, Hoboken, Rotterdam, NL (G)
2016        Graduation show, WDKA Finals, Rotterdam, NL (G)
2015        Instagram Favourties Der Greif, Wandering Bears Collective, London, GB (G)
Artist in residency / Trips
2024        Voucher International Venice Biennale, organised by Mondrian Fund
2023        Het Wilde Weten, Rotterdam, NL
2022        Orientation trip Portugal and Spain, organized by Mondriaan Fund
2022        Witterook, Breda, NL
2021        AADK Spain, Blanca, ES
2019        AADK Spain, Blanca, ES
Grants / Prices
2024        Voucher Ontwikkeling, Mondriaan Fonds, NL
2024        PPR CBK Rotterdam, NL
2023        Stichting Stokroos, NL
2023        Het Prins Bernhard Cultuurfonds, NL
2022        Stipendium 01, Stichting KLEIO, NL
2021        Makersloket, Stichting Droom en Daad, NL
2021        PPR, CBK Rotterdam, NL
2020        Stipendium for Emerging Artists, Mondriaan Fonds, NL
Artist talk / Interview / Publication
2023        'Een plastic tasje als danspartner' interview by Alex de Vries, Mister Motley, NL
2022        'Een ode aan het servet (…)' interview by Puck Kroon, Witte Rook Online, NL
2022        'Nostalgic Pills’, Mood, The Art of Today, online magazine
2022        'Ode aan de servet' interview in newspaper BN De Stem, NL
2022         Atelier Geluiden podcast interview with Rizoom, NL
2022        Film screening and interview, Offscreen x PPR CBK, WORM, Rotterdam, NL
2022        Artist Talk Vuelta//Arte, Stedelijk Museum Breda in collaboration with Witte Rook, NL
2022        'De Prospects van Art Rotterdam' featured in Mister Motley, NL
2022        Groot Nederlands Kunstkalender, NL
2021        ENOUGH magazine (commissioned still lifes), NL
2020        The Right Orange self published card set
2020        PAPA newspaper (featured photos and text), NL
2020        Open Studio Borgerstraat artist publication, NL
2018        ‘The Tower of Babel’ interview by Mila Stolk, Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, NL
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