Bas Ketelaars

Laser-print and graphite on paper. 2x A4.

From Drawing. The drawing, which emphasizes the materialty,  and the  more immaterial laserprint complement each other. Different layers are stacked at slightly different positions. The drawing is eighter in between, under or on top of the print.  Which is where may become irretraceble in the process.

Scan from negative film. (analogue photograph in 2 exposures) Kökar, Åland (FI), 2024.  

The Depth is on the Surface. With the contrast between sharpness and blur, I aim to evoke a tension between what is revealed in a landscape and what remains hidden. The two exposures are made in relation to one another, with the making of each side affecting the other. The rough vertical line is produced through this photographic process, by alternately placing a piece of paper between the lens and one half of the landscape during each exposure.

At Nordic Artists Centre Dale, Norway. Hand-printed on baryta paper.

Landscape of surfaces. Two black-and-white photographs, forming a sequence of nearly identical views of a densely wooded landscape, are attached to a glass window and glass table. They overlap with the interior and with the landscape outside and offer an alternative surface; dark mute and still. 

Graphite on paper, office rack pencil, cardboard boxes. 2026 

Solitary Tree. A drawing of a solitary coniferous tree found in an artificially open heather landscape. The act of drawing has left a trace of smudged graphite running parallel to the right outline of the tree. The drawing is positioned in relation to other objects. Although some parts of the drawing may be hidden from view, they remain physically accessible

‘Graphite on paper, wood, tubelight. 118 x 100cm. 2026

‘ Graphic Surface’  Presented as a flat surface on a table, the drawing consists of three images depicting different sections of a glacially deposited stone field. The landscape is presented in fragments, resembling the discontinuous logic of a graphic novel. The faint, less densely drawn forms might evoke a less materially present environment, opening onto a more mysterious and personal perception of landscape.

At Artists Unlimited Bielefeld. Laserprint on office paper. Height 240cm.

Forest Wall/Arc of Perception. 

Inventory of Outlines (sample). Forms traced in Illustrator constitute an inventory of a particular place. By reducing the place to the outlines of natural forms, the inventory draws attention to their potential for contact and connection. These inventories can serve as source material for new work. On the right is a self-designed folded leaflet.

Graphite on paper. 128 x A6. 2025

Dune Ecology. This drawing, based on a photograph taken at the Parnidis Dune on the Curonian Spit in Lithuania, consists of 128 A6-sized pieces of paper, together forming two A0 sheets or one 2A0. The grid-like structure contrasts with the fluidity of the sand and the walking dune. At the same time, each fragment can be removed and follow its own course.

At van Gogh Air, De Moeren. Projection, graphite, folded paper, wood.

Integrated environment. The projected landscape is embedded in a constructed environment consisting mainly of paper surfaces, worked through hatching and folding. 

At Pompgemaal Den Helder. Graphite on paper on wooden construction. 

Logics of Landscape. Translations of photographs presented as horizontal surfaces. The overlaps are essential, allowing the separate drawings to function as building blocks within a spatial continuity that extends through the room. The varying heights and positions of the frames determine what is revealed or obscured. Moving between the images parallels navigating an actual landscape, although in a limited and highly structured manner.

Graphite on paper. Frame: folded paper, wood. 

Stone upon Stone. The frame of folded paper fincions as an intermediate between the drawin image of the drawing and the here and now of the studio.

Sheets of paper, folded and glued together.

Silberbach. Lines from a map of the Silberbachtal  in Germany, near the boundary between the continental and the maritime climate zones. From information to tactility.

Graphite on paper. various dimensions. (max height 150)

The centre cannot hold.  Various degrees of density on different sheets of paper. The overlap is essential making it one constructed image. The underlying might be invisible it's not unreachable.

Graphite on paper, projection. 2021.

At GGZ Breburg Dongen (psychiatric clinic). Drawing Workshop.

Rule based drawing in a contact zone. Based on Mary Louise Pratt’s concept of the contact zone and rule-based drawing, participants each invent a rule and draw accordingly. The circular table is too large to reach its centre, leaving it clear while the surrounding surface gradually fills with lines and patterns. As the available space diminishes, the different rules meet and interfere, creating a shared drawing and a contact zone of conflict, negotiation and adaptation.

The image shows part of the table with pencils; behind it hangs an inverted version of the drawing as a banner and backdrop.

At Eyes of Hands, Club Solo, Breda. 

Graphite for grains of sand. The drawing, depicting a wandering dune, is structured by an almost invisible grid of A4-sized sections. The wooden frame allows the work to stand as a spatial element, although it still requires the wall for support. Where the upper half overlaps the window, the light renders the graphite increasingly immaterial.
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Photo: Peter Cox.