Louis Reith at Studio Bosk

Last month Louis Reith travelled from his hometown Zetten to the north of The Netherlands to spend a week at Studio Bosk in the woods of the Gaasterland area with its hilly landscape, variety of forests and its unique cliffs. During his artist in residency Louis Reith worked on a completely new series of three-dimensional wooden sculptures.

What was your experience at Studio Bosk?
Before I lived in the countryside (during a pandemic!), when I lived in Amsterdam, peace and quiet would be a welcome diversion from my busy life in a crowded city. Now the first days were much more difficult, being in an even more quiet environment. This was definitely confrontational. After a few days settling in things finally started brewing and while sketching ideas started to flow. I even opened up the doors of the workspace and had some pleasant interactions with locals passing by.

How did working in nature affect your process?
As an introverted person I tend to close myself off in crowded places, but in nature I literally feel more space. I think that’s also the reason why I’m currently interested in music making, in which I also like to interact directly with my surroundings through digital devices. I even brought some portable music-making equipment and made some field recordings around the house, which really helped to make me feel at home. Within my visual work I was looking for a similar dynamic – opening up my rather rigid form-language without losing its character.

Can you tell us about the sculpture you created during the residency?
I’ve been interested in creating sculptures for quite some time and although I did some installations and multi-layered wall pieces in the past this is the first time I translated my work into an actual object. The work I created during the residency is the first in a series of sculptures constructed out of puzzle pieces. These works will eventually be presented in a publication, with the individual puzzle pieces depicted on the separate pages.

More information regarding the launch of Louis Reith’s new sculptures and publication will follow soon.

Studio Bosk is a holiday home and artist in residency in Friesland, launched by Mini Galerie in 2020. Mini Galerie’s owner Julia van der Meer & partner Gysbert Zijlstra transformed an old 1950s cottage and torn down shed into a modern, cozy home and residency with the help of interior architects Kobs Interieur.

Photography by Pierre Zylstra