Carolein Smit
Geen Man Scull
74.500 €
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About the artwork
Carolein Smit
Green Man
2026
Object
Ceramics
Each piece is handmade original.
13,5 × 10 cm
Série: 10 pieces
In stock
The limited series of small ceramic sculptures Green Man, or “head of leaves,” by Dutch artist Carolein Smit, who presented her work as part of the Between Worlds exhibition at KodlContemporary, represents a symbol of rebirth. Green Man draws on the medieval motif of the Green Man – a face surrounded by or emerging from leaves, branches and other vegetation, which appears primarily in European sacred architecture. Although its exact meaning varies across different periods and contexts, the motif has traditionally been associated with growth and the perpetual cycle of life and death. It thus refers to transformation, regeneration and the connection between humans and nature.
Carolein Smit: “In Prague, I saw many Green Men. The best one was in the garden of the Wallenstein Palace. It is a stylised Green Man hidden in the rock, yet it still appears as a sad Green Man.”
About author
Carolein Smit (b. 1960, the Netherlands) is a Dutch artist who studied at the St. Joost Academy of Art in Breda. She originally worked in lithography, graphic design, and drawing, but later turned exclusively to ceramics. Her sculptures come across as fragile, sublime, and sinister all at once, creating an imaginary world. Her work has been exhibited at venues including the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, Kunsthal Rotterdam, and the Musée de la Chasse et de la Nature in Paris, among others.
