The main focus points in my work are ethics, food and bringing people together. Most of the time I create work that combines these elements. I use food because it is not only a visual tool, but also triggers all the senses.
Artist statement, February 2016
What constitutes and influences a culture? One of the things that interest me within the cultural jungle is food. As I grew up in Holland I noticed that meat is the basic staple of every meal. I have never been a meat lover myself, so at the age of 8 I started to eat and live as a vegetarian. For most Dutch people meat is the main part of their diet especially at dinner time and the rest of the meal is created around that main ingredient. These food habits have a (long) cultural history. When visiting other countries, I experienced cooking to be quite different, more as a creation. As an artist I want to challenge the way we think about food and make people aware of the nature that we call our culture. For me it is important to share values, recipes and inform the audience in a playful, edible and visual way.
I believe in the strength of people either as individuals or as a group.
Often the feeling arises that you cannot change the way things are. Values mostly stem from the culture we grew up in and frame our thinking on what is "normal" and "correct".
People have the capability to learn new things from each other in many different ways. An important place to start sharing these ideas and work together is at the dinner table.
Lonneke Jonker (1989)
Currently living and working in Rotterdam Netherlands