Joana Velu


artist, she/her, NL/BR, based in Amsterdam,
curious how people observe themselves
and the world they are part of.

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    Photography: Jij ben M. and Erwin Budding


    LANDSCHAPsBRIEVEN (LanDSCAPE LETTERS)


    2025


    Interactive embodied drawing ritual in public space during Land Art int the City: Een kunstroute dwars door Almere, Land Art Flevoland and Jij Bent M. Almere (NL)  
    Performance, ceramics and raw clay from local soil, hand-made paper sheet from recycled personal writings and organic material collected during a walk around the Weerwater lake.
    Landscape Letters invited people to create intuitive drawings as a meditative way to connect with themself, others and the surrounding landscape.  

    When entering the pier, people were given a crayon made from local clay and a small ceramic vessel made from the same soil. They were asked to cherish it in the palms of their hands while walking across the pier. Once opening the hands gently, and placing each object in one of them, Joana collected water from the Weerwater lake and poured it in the vessel. She then demonstrated how dipping the crayon in the water created a watercolor effect on the paper. The paper itself is made from recycled personal writings - diary fragments, handwritten poems and love letters that were better off not to be sent out. “They are now here to be transformed into new love letters together, as a mean to connect ourselves to our surroundings and anything else we might experience at this very moment”. The traces of organic material in the paper, such as leaves, flowers and feathers were collected during a walk around the lake.

    Joana walked back to the beginning of the pier and visitors could stay as long as they wanted and express their presence on the paper however they wished. Before leaving the pier again, they placed their landscape letter next to all the others - forming a composition of different perspectives, experiences and memories of the same place.  

    Photography: Manon Hertog
    Documentation of clay and ceramic process
    Documentation of paper sheets