Silence After the Flood
Watercolor and Fineliner, 2025
This evocative work presents an alternative reality centered on the ruins of the Dom Church in Utrecht, which was largely destroyed by a devastating storm in 1674. While history records the slow recovery of the city, this piece offers a haunting vision of a different path: one where the cathedral is entirely submerged due to the consequences of climate change.
The artist draws direct inspiration from the 17th-century master Herman Saftleven, whose historical drawings of the 1674 wreckage provided the foundational composition for this piece. However, the skeletal Gothic arches documented by Saftleven are here transformed into a thriving aquatic sanctuary. The grey stone pillars are heavily overgrown with vibrant corals, including intricate brain corals and anemones, which have reclaimed the man-made structure.
In this silent, underwater cathedral, the atmosphere is populated by a diverse array of marine life. Majestic manta rays glide through the arches, while a leopard-spotted moray eel peeks from behind a coral-encrusted pillar. By blending local historical trauma with global environmental anxiety, the work explores the concept of “what could have been,” inviting the viewer to witness a serene yet disquieting vision of a world reclaimed by the sea.