Pieter VandenDaele Belgian, 1971

Pieter VandenDaele was born in Belgium in 1971. He grew up surrounded by lakes and the River Scheldt. The River Scheldt and the variety of lakes are an ideal environment for fishermen. While his friends went fishing, Pieter took painting lessons at the academy in Oudenaarde. From an early age, Pieter was fascinated by the underwater world and fauna.

In 2000, he worked at an art foundation in Oudenaarde, where he learned to make moulds and to cast and patinate bronze. In 2003, his passions came together and he began casting bronze sculptures, mainly of carp. 

The fish he creates have a unique texture, with skin that resembles scales rendered in bronze. VandenDaele has developed his own technique for this. Pieter builds the original model from organic materials such as leaves, wood, leather, wax and many other materials. He uses various organic materials in his moulds to create special impressions and structures in the skin of the bronze. This gives the sculptures so much character that names such as Ferox, Alphons and Ludwig come as no surprise.

His fish, as well as frogs and toads, live on, captured for eternity. Just as nature captures prehistory in fossils. More recent additions to his oeuvre are birds. Like his underwater creatures, they radiate a raw and almost primal quality, shaped by rugged forms and enriched by a patina that feels timeworn and profoundly atmospheric. 

His bronze sculptures are exhibited in Belgium , the Netherlands , the UK , France , the USA and Canada.