HEIMAT

coastal / marine landscapes

Heimat explores the landscape of Zeeuws-Vlaanderen, the coastal region in the southwest of the Netherlands where Conrad van Tiggelen grew up. Bordering Belgium, the North Sea and the Westerschelde estuary, the area is shaped by low horizons, wide skies, marine clay fields and strong southwest winds coming in from the sea.

The series reflects on the emotional connection between landscape, memory and identity. Rather than depicting the region directly, the works evoke impressions of ploughed fields, harvested land, changing weather and traces of human labour within the landscape.

Using layered materials, muted colours and weathered surfaces, Van Tiggelen creates abstract compositions that balance between land and memory. Second-hand workwear once used in agriculture is incorporated into several works, connecting the physical reality of the land with personal history and collective memory.

Heimat is not only about a specific place, but about the feeling of belonging to a landscape shaped by time, labour, wind and sea. The works reflect a quiet relationship between people and the environments they inhabit — landscapes marked by use, erosion and continuity across generations.