Anne Graaff

 Welcome to my website. I am an artist and a writer living in France.  

Poetry is my ongoing stream of personal reflection through language

Art making is my ongoing stream of personal reflection on the world through visual language.

Sometimes I combine the two, as in some of my artists’ books. 

As an art historian I write on many subjects but have a special fondness for Outsider Art.

I hope you enjoy browsing through my thought forms.

‘WHY I MAKE ART: THE MOTIVATION OF AN ARTIST`

I like to see my mind at work, the art mind. I like the way one thing leads to another and surprise outcomes occur, art outcomes. I like surprising myself. I like observing the intelligence of the hands, just allowing them to get on with it – with playing with the materials until interesting things happen.

I like working with materials in a sensual way. I like the stuff of stuff – and the way materials can be coaxed to speak. I like the mess and materiality of clay, for example, and the way one can roll up one’s sleeves and get one’s hands into it – taming the muckiness of it. I like thick paint and thin paint and their differing visceral properties. I like playing with art materials in a way that opens the door to accidental effects – so that the materials also speak for themselves. I like the back and forth between accident and control, as the artwork comes into being. I find this process to be mysterious and fascinating. This is why I am an artist.