The artist Maarten Bel held three workshops with pupils from Amsterdam schools in which he explored how to go about making a portrait in which you show who you are or who you would like to be. In doing so, the students used everydy objecta and materials in an unusual way. The new ‘profiles’ they designed for themselves were captured against a simplified reproduction of the background from Vincent van Gogh’s Self-Portrait with Bandaged Ear.

Text: Van Gogh Museum

Photography: Brenda Roos