Louky van Eijkelenburg will have her residency this summer. Check out her concert during Vruchtbare Grond on September 19!
We asked Louky some questions:
Why do you want to make art?
I feel like I don't really have a choice. I am aware of the fact that I'm very lucky for being in a position where I can actually try to pursue an artistic career, but even if that weren't so I would still be making art. Being creative (this can be writing, making music, coming up with weird dance moves, making faces out of sticks and stones during a walk in the woods or drawing on the chalkboard at work) is a recurring thing in my life. When I'm dealing with strong emotions (either happy or sad ones) or when I don't understand what's going on in the world, I use art to find peace with it. I have to, it's a fire burning within.
Do your other interests influence your art?
Definitely. When I pick up a new hobby, the question whether I will be able to integrate this newly acquired skill in a performance will arrive sooner or later. The same goes for information, whenever I learn something that fascinates me, I always find myself wondering how I can share my new insights with the world in an artistic way.
What are your ultimate career goals?
I used to say: 'I want to be the best director that Belgium has to offer.' But my view on that has changed a lot. My boyfriend and I were strolling through a bookstore a couple months ago and I jokingly picked up the book 'How to become a successful artist' written by Magnus Resch. I turned some pages and saw a whole lot of information on how to sell and promote yourself on social media. I closed the book and told my boyfriend: 'Well, if that's what it's about, I don't want to be a successful artist.' The obsession with success can be incredibly paralysing, besides that, I'm rarely impressed by new art created by so-called 'successful' artists, it often lacks fire. My ultimate career goal would be to earn just enough as an artist to live a more or less comfortable life.