photo Simon Beckmann
Joya: AiR / Mirjam Debets / NED
‘In my work I try to playfully bridge the gap between urban life and nature. As I spend most of my time living and working in Amsterdam, it has been a very refreshing experience to reflect on this theme while being submerged in an environment that’s everything but urban.
With the help of Simon and Donna’s stories about the house and its surroundings and through the daily expeditions into the sierra, I felt like I really got to know the landscape. This, and how easy it felt to connect with the other artists makes it almost difficult to believe I only spent two weeks at Joya.
I had time to catch up with my inspiration, big and small: I actually had the time to get through a biological/philosophical theory I’ve been wanting to read -which turned out to be surprisingly relevant to the way I have been ‘generating’ ideas-, I studied the shapes and geometry of the plants below my feet and for the first time tried to catch my ideas in writing rather than images.
To share my experience with others I’m creating a small zine with the images and ideas I have been collecting during my time at Joya. Hopefully this way I will be able to hold on to the experience a little longer while diving back into my life in Amsterdam’.
Mirjam Debets is an animation director, illustrator and VJ. Fueled by a curiosity about nature and stories about who we are as humans, she creates inviting and eclectic worlds and encourages you to explore them with an open mind. Her work stretches over a wide range of media including visuals for live events, installations, short films, illustrations and textile design.
In 2022 she co-directed the short animated documentary ‘Diafonie’, which will premiere at the Netherlands Film Festival in september. Her work was seen at Dutch Design Week, Museumnacht Amsterdam and KLIK Amsterdam Animation Festival. She is part of Amsterdam based DJ collective Sentinel Island Disco as a visual artist and VJ. She created textile designs for the first collection of LA based luxury apparel brand LEJ.