Nature is defined in the Collins dictionary as the whole system of existence, arrangement, forces and events of all physical life not yet untouched by man or civilisation. Not yet! The process by which nature is 'cultivated' for agriculture, for example, or cattle breeding, housing, transportation or industry has been ongoing for centuries. These changes are a vital source of inspiration for artists, and often a source of irritation as well: in the seventeenth century Rembrandt considered windmills as polluters of the horizon. Many artists take an interest in the tensions between nature and the encroaching culture, in the process where the two meet.

This field of tension is also a constantly recurring theme in the photographic work of Mischa Keijser. His work offers us an insight into the way in which the modern-day Dutch deal with issues such as spatial planning, food and animals. He looks at this process critically, but at the same time demonstrates a love of this same cultural landscape, which he translates into images in lyrical and often unexpected ways.

Text by Pieter Siebers, accompanying the exhibition at the Tilburg University, 2006.