"In Forward Escape into the Past, the artist is showing photographs from his two most recent projects, which are situated at the intersection of nostalgia and visionary utopia. The title of the exhibition suggests an alternative future for humanity and in so doing links the two photographic series thematically. Forward Escape into the Past can be understood as a future far removed from technological progress, in which human beings seek a connection with their past and with nature." 

- Valerie Verhack, in exhibition text for FORWARD ESCAPE INTO THE PAST at M-Museum Leuven (BE)

The installation in De Brakke Grond (Amsterdam, NL) consisted out of materials found in the building of De Brakke Grond itself; old theater decor panels including any wear and tear, and scraps of wood. The reusing of materials mirrors the lifestyles of Drop City residents, an autarkic, utopian movement which was based in Colorado. Living as hunter-gatherers they created their utopian community using locally sourced materials.

For M Leuven I designed a setting consisting of walls constructed from blocks of hemp. Although mechanically produced, they are shaped and pressed according to centuries-old principle. The material is durable and very light making it ideal for building partition walls or as insulation. In this sense, the building material is in keeping with ecology, sustainability, technology ingenuity and a return to nature: all themes that form a thread running through

the exhibition.