Food for thought on the theme of climate.
That’s what Eline Kersten (1994, Maastricht – Switzerland) gives us in the tenth edition of The Studio. Because what impact does it have on us when our environment disappears or changes at top speed?
Kersten has a special fascination with disappearing and changing landscapes. In her multifaceted work, she analyses and sheds light on stories about how we relate as people to the changing world around us. Take, for example, themes like melting glaciers and wildfires. How does climate change affect us as humans? In order to show different storylines in her work, she regularly works with other professionals, ranging from climate scientists to composers and firemen.
Glass time capsules
The Studio #10 presents a series of hand blown glass sculptures, filled with liquid. On reading the information, you learn that the melted glacier water is over a hundred thousand years old. This glacier water was drilled out from Greenland and Antarctica and then brought to Europe for scientific research. Where science stops, the artist’s imagination takes off. The work, created in dialogue with glaciologist Michaela Mühl, raises our awareness of the rapidly disappearing glaciers.
Fire as both destroyer and creator
Wildfires are also a recurring theme in Kersten’s works. She reflects on the question of how we can live with fire as both a destructive and a creative force of nature. The exhibition includes the series of silk screens All that remains (2025). The series was made with charcoal that Kersten collected in former wildfire areas at Mechelse Heide (Belgium), Drunen (the Netherlands), and Wolfsschlucht and Bitsch (Switzerland). The work Life, by any other name (2025) also originated from devastation by fire. In this work, Kersten lets charred wood move. Charcoal is usually regarded as dead material, but in this work it comes to life.
About the artist
Eline Kersten is a talented and versatile artist with roots in Limburg. She gained a Bachelor in Fine Arts from the art academy in Maastricht and a Master in Curating from Goldsmiths, University of London. She makes films, installations, sculptures, prints and artist’s books. In 2025, she was awarded the LBK scholarship (Limburg Beeldende Kunst Stipendium), comprising a six-month residency at the Jan van Eyck Academy and a solo presentation at the Bonnefanten, under the name of The Studio #10: Eline Kersten. *
*Eline Kersten is the sixth recipient of the Limburg Beeldende Kunst Stipendium, which was set up by the Province of Limburg in 2018. The scholarship comprises a grant, a solo presentation in The Studio at the Bonnefanten and a six-month working period at the Jan van Eyck Academy, culminating in participation in the Open Studios. This encourages artists from Limburg and brings their work to the attention of a wider public.
This exhibition has received support from: the Province of Limburg, the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, VriendenLoterij and GAVE Maastricht Creative Talents Fund.
Header: Radek Grabowski, photograph of a cross-section of a piece of beech charcoal, viewed under dark field light at 100× magnification, 2025. Photo Radek Grabowski (archaeobotanist/anthracologist).