From Animation Design to a semester of sculpture in Antwerp
“It feels like an incredible opportunity: spending months almost full-time sculpting.” That’s how Freek Domburg (24), a third-year student of Animation Design at ArtEZ Academy of Art & Design Zwolle, describes his semester studying Sculpture in Antwerp. “I also see it as a way to support my drawing.”
Freek has a passion for telling stories through images. That’s why he chose to study Animation Design in Zwolle a few years ago. It turned out to be a good choice: “I learn so much from the great projects we work on! Last semester, I made an animated film that was projected onto the façade of a building during Open Monument Day in Hilversum. It was a great challenge to work creatively within the restrictions of the project. For example, the film had to relate thematically to the location, and it had to be cropped precisely to fit the dimensions of the building.”
From 2D to 3D
In his free time, Freek also enjoys exploring other artistic disciplines, such as painting, comics and sculpting. “I see them as different ways of expressing myself. What I particularly like about sculpting is its three-dimensional quality. In a drawing, that remains an illusion,” he explains. “That’s why I enjoy working with clay.”
Freek wanted to develop his skills further. “But there isn’t a Sculpture programme in the Netherlands. There is one in Antwerp, though. Through fellow students, I heard about the opportunity to spend a semester studying at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts Antwerp. I thought that sounded great.”
Freek looked into which courses he wanted to take and took care of the necessary administrative preparations. “I applied for an Erasmus grant. ArtEZ and the academy in Antwerp also signed a learning agreement, which sets out the courses I’m taking and the number of credits I’ll receive for them.” He also looked for a room. “I was able to take over one from an ArtEZ student who had been in Antwerp before me. I was lucky with that.”
Working with clay, stone and chisels
In Antwerp, Freek joined the second year of the programme. What stands out to him? “This academy has a more traditional curriculum,” he says. “Teachers place a lot of emphasis on the importance of anatomical accuracy. For example, in the Modelling Figure course, we work on sketches, portraits and life-size sculptures of people who pose as models. It’s special to be able to spend three half-days a week doing this.”
Freek is also busy with the 'Autonomous Practice' course. “We weren’t given a clearly defined assignment. Fortunately, Animation Design had already taught me how to come up with my own ideas, so I found this easy to get into. I’m currently working on a sculpture in which I place six abstract figures partly on top of one another on a slope. With this, I’m expressing people’s resistance to change and the unknown, but also its inevitability as time passes. For this project, I’m working with stone, chisels and hammers: I’m actually carving the figures out of stone.”
Learning from different perspectives
One part of the programme that Freek looks back on with particular enjoyment is the group trip to Vienna. “We didn’t just visit different museums, but also explored the city together. It was a great way to get to know my classmates from Antwerp much better.”
Freek finds it enriching that his fellow students within Fine Art in Antwerp approach art in a slightly different way than his fellow animators in Zwolle. “The way of working is less rooted in narrative and communication, and more in open interpretation and making intuitive choices. I find those perspectives and ways of working inspiring. At the same time, I’m also looking forward to working with fellow animators again.”
From fragmentation to an overview
Freek feels that the direction in which he wants to develop is becoming increasingly clear. “When I started Animation Design, I mainly focused on individual skills, such as drawing and scriptwriting. Now I’m starting to see how everything is interconnected. I’m also gaining a clearer sense of the values I want to uphold in my art. For example, communicating emotions in a poetic way.”
Freek will take the inspiration he has gained in Antwerp with him into his final year in Zwolle, when he will work on his graduation film. And after that? “I’d like to keep doing what I enjoy most: making films. I’m sure having studied Sculpture will help with that too.”
This story is part of a series about studying abroad. Read the stories of Anne-Roos Albers, Messa Mouha and Tijl Schutz. Would you like to go on an exchange too? Find the steps here.
