Joyce de Vries

photography - audiovisual

Joyce de Vries was born in an Indian family. The past and the Dutch East Indies were not discussed. With my grandmother I knew that we were different from the Dutch. The food, the smells, the customs and all the stuff. Only she said she was always Dutch. "So act like that too." Nothing at my grandmother's house matched other Dutch families. I was confused by this for a long time. What do I belong to now? I had to be Dutch. While my environment always wanted to remind me that I was not Dutch. And I didn't feel that way either. Whose expectations should I meet? I did everything I could to be as Dutch as possible. I wanted to show that I had earned my place here in the Netherlands. And obey my grandmother. I did my best to feel Dutch too. Until I embraced my heritage a few years ago. Now I want to know all about this.
In my work I am concerned with identity and what shape a person. My interest in identity arose from the confusion of expectations versus feeling.