“I like to look at lines, abstractions, structure, and texture.”
—Bastiaan WoudtHikage, meaning ‘shade’ in Japanese, is emblematic of Bastiaan Woudt’s (b.1987) continued pursuit of ‘monochromatic minimalism’. Created in 2020 at the artist’s studio in Alkmaar, the Netherlands, Woudt presents his subject wearing a strikingly oversized hat, her head and shoulders obscured against his signature plain background. ‘For me, this work is about the power of simplicity and how form can evoke emotion without the need for intricate detail’, he explains. A self-taught photographer, Woudt has developed his distinctive monochromatic aesthetic through experimentations in both in-camera and post-production techniques. The Dutch artist has published eleven photobooks to date and has exhibited in cities worldwide, including Amsterdam, Paris, New York and Shanghai. In 2022, his first solo museum exhibition Twist was held at Bergen’s Museum Kranenburgh, and in the same year, the J. Paul Getty Museum acquired one of his works for their permanent collection.