Text

Working with bronze has taken on a special dimension for Ingrid Rollema. While many of her colleagues limit themselves to handing in a wax model to the bronze foundry, she cast her bronze sculptures from 1978 to 1995 in her own foundry, which, thanks to the cooperation with Jacques de Vreeden, grew into a real business. Rollema not only cast her own sculptures, but also worked for third parties. Since 1995 she has had her sculptures cast, but she still does the finishing and patination herself.

The approximately 2-metre tall 'Stokvis' sculpture, which was erected on a small square in the Scholstraat in 1985, comes from the time when Rollema did all the work himself. The rough surface of the sculpture is striking. This gives the figurative imagery a special structure that also characterises her other sculptures. Stokvis' is the image of a street urchin. He stands with one hand in his hair, while the other arm is firmly clasped around his cramped fish stock.

Rollema was trained at the Academy of Visual Arts in Rotterdam. She then studied international law in Leiden, art philosophy in Amsterdam and applied ethics in Leuven. She has been working as an artist in The Hague since 1970 and was appointed director of the Free Academy in 2001.

Until 1999 she sculpted mainly in bronze. The sculptures from that time commented on the state of affairs in society. In later work Rollema concentrates on depicting geological phenomena. The series 'Wappers' consists of whimsical objects made of clay-coated rice paper, sometimes with lead in it. They depict a search for the inside of the earth. In 2006, social involvement rears its head again in an impressive series of war impressions. Rollema refers to the situation in the Gaza Strip. In comparison, 'Stokvis' is a friendly and innocent image.