Fine Art and Design in Education: 'It’s not just about becoming a teacher, it’s about what you want to contribute'

Discovering her creativity

After finishing vocational education, primary teacher training seemed like the natural path. She was already working in education, but felt something was missing. During the COVID pandemic, she finally had the time and space to explore that feeling.

'That’s when I started making things myself. Just experimenting at home and seeing where it would take me.'

What started as casual experimentation quickly became something more serious. She realised how important the creative process was to her. After taking ArtEZ’s Preparatory Course, she enrolled in the programme.

It wasn't until she started the programme that she realised how broad it really is.

'DBKV is very much about the relationship between yourself, art and society, and about how you position yourself within that. Nine out of ten people think you'll simply end up teaching classes.'

She understands why people think that, but it doesn't reflect her own experience.

'Of course, you learn how to teach, but that's far from everything. It's much more about what you want to express, what you create, and what it means to others. You're constantly making, discussing, reflecting and questioning. We have lots of group critiques. They can be confronting, but that's exactly how you learn. Other people often see things in your work that you hadn't noticed yourself.'

From creating ‘something beautiful’ to work with deeper meaning

At the beginning of her studies, Nova mainly focused on creating visually appealing work.

'Now I create installations and work with ceramics, but also animation, glass, water and other materials. It's much more spatial and better suited to what I want to express. I want people to step into my work, to feel something or become aware of something.'

Over time, her focus shifted from aesthetics to meaning.

'I increasingly enjoy creating abstract work with a theoretical foundation. I want it to be visually interesting, but also to have something meaningful behind it. I've let go of ideas about what art should be and instead focus on what genuinely interests me and what I want to investigate.'

Social media, visibility and validation: “Look, I'm still here”

Much of Nova's work explores social media and perfectionism. These themes come directly from what she observes during her internship.

'Young people are very concerned with how they come across. Everything has to look perfect. We're constantly showing parts of ourselves to prove: ‘Look, I'm still here. Look at me, look how well I'm doing.’ What concerns me is that it's often less about how someone actually feels than about what we choose to show the outside world. Those are exactly the issues I want to explore and make visible.'

Making and teaching reinforce one another

What she encounters during her internship immediately feeds into her artistic practice, and vice versa.

'By making art yourself and encouraging others to create, you start looking differently. Not only at their work, but also at your own. By addressing topics people recognise or helping someone see something from a different perspective, I feel I can make a difference. That can happen in the classroom, but also through my artwork.'

'Art is a language without words'

Where art was once mainly about aesthetics for Nova, it has now become about meaning.

'I used to think in terms of whether something was beautiful or not. Now I can really talk about why something works and what it means. For me, art has become a language without words. It allows you to show or make people feel things that can't always be explained verbally. You can also give visibility to people who are often unheard or bring attention to subjects that aren't always discussed. That's important to me.'

Choosing between Fine Art and Design in Education and a fine art programme?

Nova wrestled with that question herself.

'Before I started, I wasn't sure how the balance between making art and learning to teach would work. During the programme I discovered there's plenty of room for both. Making is a fundamental part of the programme and often the starting point for further development. You also learn a great deal from one another. Everyone has a different perspective on the world, and I think that's incredibly valuable if you want to work with people. You learn to engage with different viewpoints. To me, it doesn't feel like choosing between being an artist or a teacher: it feels like becoming both.'

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