Statement (short version below)
Petra Groen has spent many years traveling across diverse countries and continents, with travel forming a significant part of her life. This experience has cultivated in her a flexible approach to structure and a heightened sensitivity to observing people and their environments—qualities that deeply influence her work. In addition to her artistic practice, Petra has mentored numerous students at various art academies, where she remains actively engaged with contemporary visual languages and urgent cultural concerns.
Through sculpture, collage, and drawing, she creates biomorphic forms and hybrid ecologies that reflect the Symbiocene—a world shaped by interdependence and mutual care among all living beings. Her work speaks to the essential truth that we are not separate from nature, but part of an intricate, living web of relationships. It does not seek to define or explain, but rather gestures toward a more fluid, relational way of being.
Drawing from natural systems, her process relies on intuitive methods and mixed materials that adapt, evolve, and respond. Collage, in particular, allows her to explore layering—both visually and conceptually—revealing what lies beneath the surface and hinting at what remains unseen or emergent.
This practice is an invitation to reconnect with the deep, often overlooked wisdom that lives within and around us—in the land, the body, and the nonverbal languages of nature. Rather than offering fixed answers, her work opens space for sensing, listening, and remembering our embeddedness in a larger living web.
In contrast to rigid human systems—technological, bureaucratic, linear—she turns toward older, organic forms of knowledge: ecological rhythms, spiritual traditions, and ancestral ways of knowing. Her work seeks to reawaken our sense of reciprocity with the more-than-human world and to offer a quiet path back to relational belonging. By attuning to these subtler forces, we begin to remember our place within a greater ecological symphony—one of interdependence, reciprocity, and shared becoming.
Her studio practice is shaped by ongoing research and a deep attentiveness to the world around her. She is particularly drawn to the ways we, as humans, affect one another and the planet—interactions that ripple through both visible and invisible systems. She expresses these concerns through public art, installations, drawings, and especially collages, where she engages with materials that carry their own histories and textures. She is drawn to their tactile, transformative potential—how they speak across boundaries and form new relationships within each piece.e potential—how they speak across boundaries and form new relationships within each piece.
Short version:
Petra Groen’s extensive travels across continents have shaped her flexible approach and heightened sensitivity to people and their environments—qualities central to her work and teaching. As a mentor at various art academies, she stays connected to contemporary visual culture and urgent cultural concerns.
Through sculpture, collage, and drawing, Petra creates biomorphic forms and hybrid ecologies that embody the Symbiocene—a world defined by interdependence among all living beings. Her intuitive process draws from natural systems and uses mixed materials that evolve and respond, with collage allowing her to reveal hidden layers beneath the surface.
Her work invites a reconnection with the deep, often overlooked wisdom within us and the natural world, offering a path toward relational belonging beyond rigid human systems. By engaging with ancestral knowledge, ecological rhythms, and spiritual traditions, she seeks to reawaken our sense of reciprocity with the more-than-human world. Through public art, installations, and especially collages, Petra explores the transformative potential of materials to express these interconnected relationships.
Petra Groen has spent many years traveling across diverse countries and continents, with travel forming a significant part of her life. This experience has cultivated in her a flexible approach to structure and a heightened sensitivity to observing people and their environments—qualities that deeply influence her work. In addition to her artistic practice, Petra has mentored numerous students at various art academies, where she remains actively engaged with contemporary visual languages and urgent cultural concerns.
Through sculpture, collage, and drawing, she creates biomorphic forms and hybrid ecologies that reflect the Symbiocene—a world shaped by interdependence and mutual care among all living beings. Her work speaks to the essential truth that we are not separate from nature, but part of an intricate, living web of relationships. It does not seek to define or explain, but rather gestures toward a more fluid, relational way of being.
Drawing from natural systems, her process relies on intuitive methods and mixed materials that adapt, evolve, and respond. Collage, in particular, allows her to explore layering—both visually and conceptually—revealing what lies beneath the surface and hinting at what remains unseen or emergent.
This practice is an invitation to reconnect with the deep, often overlooked wisdom that lives within and around us—in the land, the body, and the nonverbal languages of nature. Rather than offering fixed answers, her work opens space for sensing, listening, and remembering our embeddedness in a larger living web.
In contrast to rigid human systems—technological, bureaucratic, linear—she turns toward older, organic forms of knowledge: ecological rhythms, spiritual traditions, and ancestral ways of knowing. Her work seeks to reawaken our sense of reciprocity with the more-than-human world and to offer a quiet path back to relational belonging. By attuning to these subtler forces, we begin to remember our place within a greater ecological symphony—one of interdependence, reciprocity, and shared becoming.
Her studio practice is shaped by ongoing research and a deep attentiveness to the world around her. She is particularly drawn to the ways we, as humans, affect one another and the planet—interactions that ripple through both visible and invisible systems. She expresses these concerns through public art, installations, drawings, and especially collages, where she engages with materials that carry their own histories and textures. She is drawn to their tactile, transformative potential—how they speak across boundaries and form new relationships within each piece.e potential—how they speak across boundaries and form new relationships within each piece.
Short version:
Petra Groen’s extensive travels across continents have shaped her flexible approach and heightened sensitivity to people and their environments—qualities central to her work and teaching. As a mentor at various art academies, she stays connected to contemporary visual culture and urgent cultural concerns.
Through sculpture, collage, and drawing, Petra creates biomorphic forms and hybrid ecologies that embody the Symbiocene—a world defined by interdependence among all living beings. Her intuitive process draws from natural systems and uses mixed materials that evolve and respond, with collage allowing her to reveal hidden layers beneath the surface.
Her work invites a reconnection with the deep, often overlooked wisdom within us and the natural world, offering a path toward relational belonging beyond rigid human systems. By engaging with ancestral knowledge, ecological rhythms, and spiritual traditions, she seeks to reawaken our sense of reciprocity with the more-than-human world. Through public art, installations, and especially collages, Petra explores the transformative potential of materials to express these interconnected relationships.
