Amber Much

Exhibition winner Victoriefonds Culture Award Visual Arts 2024

June 29 to December 1

Visual artist and taxidermist Amber Veel is winner of the 2024 Victoriefonds Culture Award Visual Arts.

Ancient techniques
After studying at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam and the Royal Drawing School in London, Amber Veel visited the last Spar tannery in the vast forests of arctic Sweden. Here she learned the art of traditional vegetable tanning, which revealed a deep cosmic connection between animal, plant and landscape. She uses these ancient techniques to investigate and explore the cycles of life.

Experiencing beauty
Amber Much is with her Taxidermic Laboratory become a specialist in skin preservation. She approaches the stuffing of animals from an entirely unique point of view. It is an emotional process in which, as an artist, she tries to slow down time by caring for the deceased animals and letting the viewer experience the beauty of them. The exhibition introduces visitors to techniques that Veel uses in her artworks.

Workshop and library
Amber Veel's work is deeply rooted in the art of skin preparation and conservation, combining traditional and innovative techniques, drawing and collecting. Her studio is both a workshop and a library.

" I wonder where a body ends and the universe begins. I keep a shell and draw a plant. This is how I pause the living and the dead to get a grip on our being, which to me is often so complex." - Amber Much