Z33

With Womb of Time, Jennifer Tee is creating the final artwork for Art on the Meuse. At the Vilain XIIII Castle Estate in Maasmechelen, she is developing a brick sculpture that intertwines nature, history, and memory. In this way, the landscape takes on a new layer of meaning.

A work that grows out of the site itself

For Womb of Time, Jennifer Tee takes the Vilain XIIII Castle Estate as her starting point—a place with a rich history and a distinctive tree population. During her exploration of the estate, she selected leaves from various trees, incorporating their imprints into bricks. The result is a sculpture that not only stands within the landscape but also literally bears its traces.

With this work, Tee translates her internationally acclaimed Tampan Tulip collages into a public sculpture in brick for the first time. The result is a tranquil work in which organic forms, material, and time converge.

Between the Past and Renewal

The sculpture also embodies the history of the site. The estate once housed a maternity ward, a place that lives on in the collective memory of many. By incorporating bricks from that former maternity ward into the artwork, Tee connects the site’s past with its new future.

Leen Gysen, CEO of Tourism Flanders:
“The work builds a meaningful bridge between nature and the history of the former maternity ward on the grounds. As the building disappears, the sculpture anchors this place in the landscape in a new way. By incorporating bricks from the maternity ward into the artwork, the past remains present and a dialogue emerges between art and the environment.”

For Z33, too, the power of the work lies in the way it brings together landscape and meaning. Adinda Van Geystelen, General & Artistic Director of Z33 – House for Contemporary Art, Design & Architecture:
“In Jennifer Tee’s work, the landscape breathes with it: leaves become bricks, time becomes tangible. She turns leaves into a compass, as it were: they point us toward what remains, what disappears, and what begins anew.”

Reflection: a sound sculpture as an ode to connection

On the site of the former foot ferry between Meeswijk and Urmond, Germaine Kruip created a monumental sculpture that is not only visible in the landscape but also resonates within it. Visitors can strike Reflection with a specially designed mallet. This generates a singing tone that echoes the bell of the old ferry.

The sculpture consists of a five-meter-long vertical brass beam, custom-tuned by instrument maker Thein Brass of Bremen. It floats between two narrow, ten-meter-high posts. Two black granite benches invite visitors to pause and reflect on the view, the history, and the sound of the place.

“With Reflection, I want to create a moment in which people not only hear the history, but also experience the silence that exists here now. It is a work that brings peace, but also connects, just as the ferry once did,” says Germaine Kruip.

Latest addition to Art on the Meuse

With Reflection by Germaine Kruip and Womb of Time by Jennifer Tee, Maasmechelen is gaining two new works of art as part of Art on the Meuse. Both works draw inspiration from the unique character and history of their locations.

About Jennifer Tee

Jennifer Tee is a Dutch artist with an international reputation. In her work, she often explores the relationship between nature, ritual, symbolism, and craftsmanship. She works with sculpture, installation, collage, and drawing, creating layered images in which material and meaning are closely intertwined.