"From the moment I started looking into buying art, a new world opened up for me. Art always interested me, but the offer and the art scene are not that extensive in Brabant, where I grew up. In Amsterdam, I increasingly visited museums, but after a while I found it all too one-dimensional. So I made the move to art fairs and came across the Young Collectors Circle stand at Unseen. After that, everything kind of accelerated. Because I suddenly found myself in places you don't normally visit so easily and heard all kinds of new interesting stories. This gave me a push to start collecting art myself.

The art world, for whatever reason, is still quite unapproachable to many people. Despite not necessarily being so, it still has that image. This sometimes leaves people standing at the door of a gallery without daring to enter. It is good that this barrier is being broken through Young Collectors Circle. I became an ambassador because I really like supporting this mission. Actually, it felt almost self-evident."

VERZAMELING

"My first purchase was 10 years ago. I didn't know what I was buying at all, but I don't regret it. It's a diorama in a jam jar by James Cauty, who used to be a member of the music duo The KLF. That's music I grew up with. In his work, Cauty has themes that take a critical look at the established order, which really appeals to me. It wasn't until 2017, after I joined Young Collectors Circle and got more involved with galleries and fairs, that I started buying other artworks. I am not very systematic in the way I collect art or the frequency of purchases.

Although I mostly buy things that I find aesthetically pleasing, I find it important that there is a concept behind a work. I can get very excited if an artist stands out from others with an interesting story. A good example is Sjoerd Knibbeler. There is a very recognisable aesthetic in his work from the Paper Planes series, a signature of his own that is perhaps the result of a deliberate creative process. I think a lot of the works I choose might be a bit 'nerdy'. By that I mean a lot of tight compositions and technical themes.

One of my next purchases might be a wall-filling painting. To counterbalance the emphasis on photography in my current modest collection. I find it important that art fits nicely into the interior and can be presented well. I therefore never buy works spontaneously or impulsively. This is sometimes risky, because if I take too long, a work may already be sold. But I like to think carefully about whether I would still find something as beautiful and interesting at home as I did at the fair."

TIPS&TRICKS

Above all, don't let conventions and assumptions about art hold you back. Just disregard the idea that you might not be welcome in a gallery. And above all, follow your own taste. Ultimately, that makes your collection something unique to be proud of. To me, that is much more important than following trends.