Studio Paul & Haiko

I Was Born from an Ocean of My Mothers Skirts

Together, artists Paul van de Waterlaat and Haiko Sleumer explore how personal and collective histories can be repaired and reinterpreted from a queer perspective. Their work focuses on unfulfilled desires from their own youth and the stereotyping surrounding queer identity as a point of departure. Paul and Haiko work with textiles, collage techniques, photo manipulation, and installation art.

From childhood onward, Paul van de Waterlaat loved wearing skirts, a forbidden desire he secretly practiced in his mother’s closet. As an act of dealing with his past, Paul and Haiko created a quilt from his mother’s old dresses. ‘I Was Born from an Ocean of My Mothers Skirts’ depicts Paul as a contemporary Venus in Botticelli’s famous painting; his mother appears on the right as a helpful “goddess” instead of concealing Paul’s gender fluidity. In this sense, history is rewritten through a queer lens.