22 August 2025
Artist Cas van Deurssen works at the edge between understanding and not understanding. His approach is rooted in trying things out, experimenting, and learning along the way. As the Mondriaan Fonds resident puts it: “I rarely have just one idea, there are always many. I explore them, taking different paths and seeing where they lead.”
Written by Pleuni van Keulen
Taking the unknown path
With enthusiasm, he shows a variety of prints: cut-out images that he later rescanned. They might lead to something, or perhaps to nothing at all. That openness is typical of him as a maker. Cas explains: “My work always starts with an attraction – a pull, a drive, or an interest in how I relate to my surroundings. By making, I begin to understand. I keep working until things become predictable to me. That’s when I break away, searching for another method or medium. In a short burst, I’ll then create an overflow of work. Photography, texts, scans – any of these can become the foundation for something new. That’s how I keep taking roads I don’t yet know myself.”
Exploring new media
During his residency at Make Eindhoven, Cas also ventured into unfamiliar territory. Here he had the chance to work with different – and to him, entirely new – media. Earlier, a workshop in Groningen had already given him a taste of screen printing, sparking a wave of inspiration. So, when the open call for a residency at Make appeared, it felt like the perfect moment. Cas recalls: “My first thought was: this is where I need to be! I have to dive into this for 3 full months.”
Not focusing on an end product
Cas began his residency experimenting with screen printing and collage techniques, but he didn’t stop there. He worked with virtually any material that crossed his path. “I tried everything, both to broaden my knowledge and to find out which methods best suited the realisation of my ideas. I worked with wax, glass, bronze, and aluminium. I tried screen printing on aluminium, wood, foam, fabric, paper – any surface I could get my hands on! I wanted to see what fit me, what I could do with it. The first six weeks were very experimental. I wasn’t focused on an end product at that stage. Later in the residency, I started working more toward a concrete idea. Not necessarily something ‘finished,’ but rather a way of working with a wide range of materials.”
Salmon in screen print
The aforementioned overflow of work also emerged at Make, Cas explains. “I built a personal collection of over 400 scans of various objects I brought from home, found in the streets, or stumbled upon at Make. Up until then, influences from my surroundings had manifested in my visual language in other ways. Working with photographic elements gave me a more direct and, to me, entirely new approach, shifting the narrative of my work.”
article continues below images
“I started screen printing with the scans, and through collage techniques, I built new work on unfamiliar ground. The very first screen I exposed featured a pack of salmon from Albert Heijn. I printed it countless times in CMYK. For me, it wasn’t so much about the image itself, but about how the image reacts and behaves after being printed over and over again. This new way of working eventually led to a whole series of pieces. And I expect this method will also influence my upcoming work.”
A new love for glass
With a wealth of techniques and the expertise of advisors at his disposal, and a creative mind brimming with ideas, Cas had endless opportunities to experiment. “Make is unique because of the crossovers between 2D and 3D. That suits me perfectly. As a ‘painter,’ I always work in 3 dimensions: behind the canvas, on the canvas, and in front of the canvas. In that sense, my approach is quite sculptural. That mix of dimensions and techniques was also a reason for choosing Make as my workspace.”
Cas has a background in construction and working with metal. Combined with his affinity for structural elements, it seemed only natural for him to start casting in bronze and aluminum. Ironically, though, those were the techniques he ended up using the least. Glass, on the other hand, turned out to be his new love. Cas explains: “At first, I didn’t feel much connection to this medium. It seemed so far removed from me. But once I started working with it, supported by the advisors, I discovered all the possibilities glass has to offer. The methods, the techniques. That’s when the ball really started rolling, and I quickly found myself bursting with new ideas again!”
Making decisions
Halfway through the residency, it was time to make some decisions. “I had to force myself to make choices,” Cas says. “Glass casting (a technique for making solid glass objects using a mould, ed.) really fascinated me, so I decided to dive into it. I first made wax models, then plaster molds, which I used to create a series of glass climbing-wall objects.”
“For screen printing, I focused on a series of paintings using ecoline and pearlescent powder on polyester film, onto which I printed texts. I also worked with CMYK screen prints on plexiglass, which can interact with light. And I printed on TPU (Thermoplastic Polyurethane, ed.), a silicone-based material of which I had a 5.20 by 2-meter piece. On this surface, I created a series of large screen prints, a kind of freehand collage made from scanned clay forms that I enlarged into compositions. That’s what I spent most of my final weeks working on.”
Creative playground
And then, the residency came to an end. An educational time of taking risks, playing, falling and getting back up again. All within a safe environment full of materials, techniques, and expertise, and without the pressure of having to deliver a final result. According to Cas, this is what makes Make Eindhoven so unique. “Here, you’re stimulated to explore and stretch your boundaries, dive into new techniques, and experiment freely. It’s a creative playground that really challenges you to investigate. That sense of freedom, together with the support of experts and the openness of the place, makes it an experience every artist should have at least once!”
This residency was funded by the Mondriaan Fonds.