Born in Amsterdam 11-10-1934, died 5-4-2011 in Perth
Textile Artist / Fashion Designer and Mixed Media Artist. Active Period c.1958 – c.2008
Artistic education: Diploma of Art Studies, Perth Technical College (1957), BA Fine Art (Fibre Textiles) Kunstnijverheidsschool/Rietveld Academie, Amsterdam (1982), BA (Sculpture) Curtin University (1990), M.A. Visual Arts, Curtin University (1995).
According to her own account, she grew up during the Second World War and was 12 when it ended. During the last two winters of the war, they endured severe shortages of gas, electricity, and water. Those winters were harsh, lengthy, freezing, and snowy.
They scavenged for wood, twigs, and even small coals from the railway track to fuel their tiny stove. Every useful item was collected and carefully preserved.
Old clothes and jumpers were unraveled and remodeled, or reknitted. For years, she kept every piece of string, rope, shoelace, ribbon, twine, and thread, a habit formed during wartime necessity that persisted.
Her grandmother was a skilled knitter, creating unique and inventive garments that her grandchildren adored. When these garments wore out, she would unravel them and remake them. Inspired by her grandmother, Aadje knotted together all the knittable materials she could find, creating three pieces. The resulting fabric, with all its knots and threads on one side, was startling. In 2006, she crafted a piece for the Tamworth Fibre Textile Biennial in memory of her grandmother, using all the knittable materials she had collected over the years.
She cherished the juxtaposition of textures, shapes, and colors in the resulting work. Using the leftovers from that project and some later-found ribbons and yarns, she created a second knitted piece, extending the theme of the first.
