Roos & Chris

Since 2003, Roos Leddy and Chris Harkam have formed the international artist duo Roos&Chris.

Both are highly fascinated by the human psychology, which is an important source of inspiration for their sculptures: blow-ups of animal and human figures in ceramics or synthetics.

At the basis of their work lie questions, such as how and to what extent a human is shaped and determined by events in his childhood, how does someone deal with power and powerlessness and how far does someone want to go in his ambitions and pursuit of perfection? What is pose and what is truth? How does one relate to the trivial and higher things? How do we deal with high and low in everyday life as well as in more reflective moments? Why are our children sent off to war and why are others continuously fleeing? Where is our breaking point when we are taunted and which fears do we need to overcome in our lives?
With their work, Roos & Chris want to stimulate and make you think about these and similar questions, as well as about the eternal, but extraordinarily interesting question of how much humour 'serious' art can withstand and is allowed in the art world.

A returning element in their work is the chemistry between people. By constantly using two sculptures that belong together, they are creating dialogue, interaction, recurrence and, thus, chemistry.

Their working process starts with developing a concept. Before the actual work is created, they make clay sketches. It is important to formulate and somewhat depict the ultimate goal carefully, because they both work on two or more sculptures at the same time and alternate between them.

Human behaviour - even in their animal sculptures - is always the starting point.
The duo is aware that they parody and realise that seriousness and irony are not that far apart. However, the following is always the case: a smile is allowed, but humour is never the motive or the ultimate goal.