Lia van Vugt

Lia van Vugt was born on Goeree Overflakkee (the Netherlands) in 1945. After completing her secondary education in Roosendaal, she went on to study Monumental Design at the ‘Artibus’ Academy in Utrecht. Here she was particularly inspired by the classes given in the studio of sculptor Jan van Luyn. Between 1976 and 1978 Lia van Vugt studied sculpture at the Jan van Eyck Academy in Maastricht, the only post-graduate institute in the Netherlands at the time. In 1977 she received a grant from the Italian Cultural Institute to continue her studies at the Brera Academy in Milan.

Lia van Vugt’s sculptures are not primarily based on nature; they are independent objects following their own rules. The main rule is that the sculpture must be viewed from all sides: from below, from above, from the side. The essence of her work is how it impinges on the surrounding space.

Lia van Vugt strives to achieve a certain ‘abstraction’. This follows on from her desire to create an autonomous sculpture, a sculpture which is independent from a prescribed context and which only refers to itself. A good sculpture develops gradually. The process requires a great deal of time and a monomaniacal focus. Take something away here, add something there: it is a question of millimetres. The manual process is a form of meditation, of talking to yourself without knowing exactly what you are saying. The sculpture is good, says Lia van Vugt, when your eye can skim over it and still discover new things.

Lia has an amazingly rare gift for sculpture. She is skilled in modelling and hewing. She works in wood, stone, bronze and glass.