High Vis.Jiv
The Hi Vis Workie: Reflective Workwear from appropriation to queercoding.
Artistic Research Fellowship 2026 - 2027
Sint Lucas Antwerp
“I research the relationship between contemporary art, fetish, queercoding, and the artist's appropriation of working class practices and workwear.
For as long as I can remember, I have had a special interest in reflective workwear. In this research project I will examine the broader context and experiment with my fascination of reflective workwear: how do these objects function in society and how are working class practices and clothes appropriated and represented in contemporary art?
Through research in the field, analysis of written work and interviews with artists, curators, and researchers, I examine how workwear is appropriated by the queer community, fetish community, and right-wing political movements. While exploring these dimenstions of reflective workwear, I keep my hands in the ink and will keep on experimenting: using personal and associative collage techniques, I process the information at the screen printing table and incorporate the impact of the theme and material by researching reflective inks and different backgrounds.” -JVDE, Fellowship application
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Because of my background as a costume designer, clothing (and more specifically, uniforms) has always played a big role in the way I deal with narrativity in my work. This I would like to research by further investigating High Visibility workwear, 'workies' (the workmen in workwear, mainly working on construction sites or on in public space) and the fetish community that solely is dedicated to outfits of 'workies'.
Through these topics I explore safety, objectivication, the transforming power of costume design and finding a niche fetish community. I want to research to whom our bodies actually belong: to the individual, to the capitalist machine or to a shared community and its undeniable conventions? Is our body trapped, in systems, in trauma?
I see enormous potential for poetry in High Vis clothing, perhaps because it gives light in the dark, perhaps because it is made to clearly communicate to its surrounding, perhaps because it protects its wearer, perhaps because it glorifies physical labour and thus, for me, refers to the construction of the systems in which we live, work and move, maybe because of the alarming nature of the Neon-colour and it’s flair for the dramatic. I'd like to call it camp, the High Vis clothing, pulling my questions back to a place of pleasure.
Artistic Research Fellowship 2026 - 2027
Sint Lucas Antwerp
“I research the relationship between contemporary art, fetish, queercoding, and the artist's appropriation of working class practices and workwear.
For as long as I can remember, I have had a special interest in reflective workwear. In this research project I will examine the broader context and experiment with my fascination of reflective workwear: how do these objects function in society and how are working class practices and clothes appropriated and represented in contemporary art?
Through research in the field, analysis of written work and interviews with artists, curators, and researchers, I examine how workwear is appropriated by the queer community, fetish community, and right-wing political movements. While exploring these dimenstions of reflective workwear, I keep my hands in the ink and will keep on experimenting: using personal and associative collage techniques, I process the information at the screen printing table and incorporate the impact of the theme and material by researching reflective inks and different backgrounds.” -JVDE, Fellowship application
Because of my background as a costume designer, clothing (and more specifically, uniforms) has always played a big role in the way I deal with narrativity in my work. This I would like to research by further investigating High Visibility workwear, 'workies' (the workmen in workwear, mainly working on construction sites or on in public space) and the fetish community that solely is dedicated to outfits of 'workies'.
Through these topics I explore safety, objectivication, the transforming power of costume design and finding a niche fetish community. I want to research to whom our bodies actually belong: to the individual, to the capitalist machine or to a shared community and its undeniable conventions? Is our body trapped, in systems, in trauma?
I see enormous potential for poetry in High Vis clothing, perhaps because it gives light in the dark, perhaps because it is made to clearly communicate to its surrounding, perhaps because it protects its wearer, perhaps because it glorifies physical labour and thus, for me, refers to the construction of the systems in which we live, work and move, maybe because of the alarming nature of the Neon-colour and it’s flair for the dramatic. I'd like to call it camp, the High Vis clothing, pulling my questions back to a place of pleasure.
Images from the research (sketches, costumes, printwork, etc)
Studio view 2023
Performance sketch, Self organized performance evening ‘The Sky Itself II’, 2023
