Root Gallery
Contemporary art gallery
Root Gallery represents a dedicated group of contemporary artists working across painting, sculpture, photography and mixed media. Built on long-term collaboration, the gallery focuses on practices defined by material research, conceptual depth and a distinct artistic language.
Located in a restored 1900 dike building in the Krimpenerwaard, just outside Rotterdam, Root Gallery presents changing exhibitions alongside an ongoing presentation of works by the gallery’s represented artists.
Visitors are welcome every Friday and Saturday from 13:00 to 17:00, and by appointment.
Have you seen a work you would like to view in person?
By Jeske Haak
21 × 21 × 7 cm, 2024
Polished bronze
Unique
Sky Meets Ground captures the brief moment between flight and landing. The creature’s transparent-looking wings remain extended while its legs reach towards the surface, holding the body in a state of suspension.
Created as part of Jeske Haak’s Tiles Stories, the work explores transformation through movement between different natural environments. Here, the transition is subtle: rather than becoming a completely different creature, the airborne form begins to respond to the physical reality of the ground. Cast as a unique piece in polished bronze, the sculpture preserves this fleeting encounter in a permanent material.
Delivery within the Netherlands and Belgium is complimentary and arranged with care, either in person or securely shipped. We’re happy to advise on placement and presentation.
By Jeske Haak
21 × 21 × 7 cm, 2023
Polished bronze
Unique
In Sea Meets Land, tentacle-like forms, claws and a layered central body come together in a creature poised between marine and terrestrial life. Its broad, symmetrical anatomy gives the work a strong physical presence, despite its intimate scale.
The sculpture forms part of Jeske Haak’s Tiles Stories, in which she explores how living forms might adapt when crossing from one environment into another. By combining closely observed natural details with invented anatomy, Haak creates a creature that feels evolutionary rather than fantastical. The highly polished bronze intensifies every ridge and curve, allowing light to animate the surface.
Delivery within the Netherlands and Belgium is complimentary and arranged with care, either in person or securely shipped. We’re happy to advise on placement and presentation.
By Jeske Haak
21 × 21 × 7 cm, 2023
Polished bronze
Unique
In Earth Meets Ocean, Jeske Haak imagines the moment a land-based form begins to change beneath the influence of the sea. The narrow, almost totemic creature combines a grounded body with details that suggest shells, coral and underwater growth.
The work belongs to Tiles Stories, a series in which Haak studies evolution as a continuous and imaginative process. Each sculpture records a different stage of transition, allowing familiar biological structures to develop in unexpected directions. Cast as a unique piece in polished bronze, the work shifts between an archaeological find and a creature from an unknown future.
Delivery within the Netherlands and Belgium is complimentary and arranged with care, either in person or securely shipped. We’re happy to advise on placement and presentation.
By Jeske Haak
21 × 21 × 7 cm, 2023
Polished bronze
Unique
Sea Meets Sky captures an imagined movement upwards. An elongated aquatic form appears to develop wings, as if a creature from beneath the surface is adapting to the open air. Its recognisable details remain deliberately unsettled: marine structures, limbs and delicate wing-like elements become part of one evolving body.
Jeske Haak uses the small scale of the Tiles Stories series to study creatures in close detail. Rather than reproducing nature, she reshapes its forms and considers what might emerge when the boundaries between different habitats begin to dissolve. The reflective bronze gives this moment of transformation an almost fluid appearance.
Delivery within the Netherlands and Belgium is complimentary and arranged with care, either in person or securely shipped. We’re happy to advise on placement and presentation.
By Jeske Haak
21 × 21 × 7 cm, 2023
Polished bronze
Unique
In Sky Meets Sea, Jeske Haak brings together forms associated with flight and underwater life. Wings, claws and a segmented body merge into a creature that seems to exist between two environments. The polished bronze catches the surrounding light, bringing different details to the surface as the viewer moves around the work.
The sculpture is part of Haak’s Tiles Stories, a series of unique studies exploring how creatures might transform as they move between air, sea and land. These intimate works allow her to examine anatomy closely and develop new hybrid forms that can later find their way into larger sculptures.
Delivery within the Netherlands and Belgium is complimentary and arranged with care, either in person or securely shipped. We’re happy to advise on placement and presentation.
By Madelon Uljee
100 × 150 × 5 cm
Leather
Unique
In After the Storm – Red, Madelon Uljee captures the moment when the force of a storm begins to subside. Layered forms in deep red, burgundy and aubergine gather at the centre, while individual leaves appear to have been carried across the wall by the wind.
Uljee works with high-quality surplus leather from the haute couture and luxury fashion industry. By cutting, shaping and assembling the material by hand, she gives it a new life as a sculptural artwork. The curved surfaces create depth and shifting shadows, allowing the work to change subtly with the light and the position of the viewer.
The work reflects both the vulnerability and resilience of nature: a moment of disruption that already holds the promise of renewal. With its generous scale and rich colour palette, it creates a strong yet organic presence within an interior.
After the Storm – Red is accompanied by individual leather leaves, allowing the composition to respond to the proportions and architecture of the wall. Installation within the Netherlands is included.
By Madelon Uljee
60 × 60 × 5 cm
Leather, steel
Unique
Madelon Uljee creates sculptural works in leather, exploring the relationship between material, form and repetition. In this work, folded elements build up into a dense, almost architectural surface. The deep burgundy colour enhances the sense of depth and shadow, while the handmade structure keeps the piece tactile and organic. Depending on the angle and light, the work shifts between softness and sharpness, appearing both controlled and instinctive at the same time.
Delivery in the Netherlands and Belgium is complimentary, carefully arranged in consultation, either in person or securely shipped. We’re happy to advise on placement and presentation.
By Madelon Uljee
120 × 100 × 10 cm
Leather, steel
Unique
Madelon Uljee creates sculptural works in leather, where material, tension and form come together in a precise, physical composition. This work reads almost like a stretched skin: shaped by hand, with a surface that shifts between smooth and structured, catching light in a restrained way. Subtle steel elements punctuate the form, adding rhythm and weight. At 120 x 100 cm, it holds a strong presence without overwhelming the space — a work that asks for a considered placement and rewards close attention.
Delivery in the Netherlands and Belgium is complimentary, carefully arranged in consultation, either in person or securely shipped. We’re happy to advise on placement and presentation.
By Madelon Uljee
75 × 75 cm
Leather, steel
Unique
Madelon Uljee creates sculptural works in leather, exploring the relationship between material, form and natural structures. Soft pink tones and subtle variations in texture give this work a more intimate, tactile quality. The organic form suggests a natural structure without directly referencing it, allowing the piece to remain open and intuitive. Its scale and colour make it approachable, while the material keeps it grounded and distinct.
Delivery in the Netherlands and Belgium is complimentary, carefully arranged in consultation, either in person or securely shipped. We’re happy to advise on placement and presentation.
By Madelon Uljee
75 x 67 x 5 cm
Leather, steel
Unique
In Leaf Bubbles, Madelon Uljee works with lambskin as a sculptural surface, shaping it into a relief that references organic structures without directly imitating them. The central vein suggests a leaf-like form, while the raised elements create a rhythmic pattern across the surface, introducing tension between control and spontaneity.
The material remains visibly responsive: stretched, pressed and formed by hand, allowing subtle irregularities to emerge. These shifts in surface and structure give the work a tactile quality that changes with light and viewing angle.
Uljee’s work is rooted in the relationship between material and form. In this piece, leather functions not as a covering, but as a spatial medium, bridging sculpture and wall-based installation, with a strong affinity to architectural environments.
Delivery in the Netherlands and Belgium is complimentary, carefully arranged in consultation, either in person or securely shipped. We’re happy to advise on placement and presentation.
By Freerk Wilbers
50 × 50 × 13,5 cm
Anodised aluminium, spring steel, PET, ball bearings, hardened steel
Unique
Green Spinner explores how systems behave once they are set in motion. In this work, Freerk Wilbers brings together four segmented circles, each mounted on a rotating axis and connected through a carefully calibrated mechanical structure. Although linked, the elements never move in the same way; each responds according to its own rhythm within the system.
The work is activated through touch. A small impulse is enough to initiate a sequence of movements that slowly unfolds beyond direct control. Structure and unpredictability exist side by side, showing how slight variations can produce noticeably different outcomes over time.
Green Spinner calls for a considered form of interaction. Its tactility is subtle, its mechanics visible yet restrained. In a private setting, the work reveals itself gradually. Not as a spectacle, but as an object that remains responsive to each new encounter
Delivery in the Netherlands and Belgium is complimentary, carefully arranged in consultation, either in person or securely shipped. We’re happy to advise on placement and presentation.
Discover emerging and mid-career artists at Root Gallery
Root Gallery is a contemporary art gallery based in a restored 1900 dike building in the Krimpenerwaard, just outside Rotterdam. The gallery presents a changing exhibition programme featuring emerging and mid-career European artists working across painting, sculpture, photography and mixed media.
Built around long-term collaborations with its artists, Root Gallery focuses on practices defined by material research, conceptual depth and a clear artistic signature.
The upper floor presents a new exhibition every six weeks, while the lower floor features an ongoing presentation of works by the gallery’s represented artists.
Root Gallery regularly participates in international art fairs, while also working closely with private collectors, architects and corporate collections.
Among the artists we represent are Donald Schenkel, Vera Klaus, Sophie de Vos, Noah Arends, Madelon Uljee, Saïd Kinos, Lisette Schumacher, Freerk Wilbers, Jeske Haak and Karen van de Vliet.
Opening hours
The gallery is open Friday and Saturday, 13:00 – 17:00,
and by appointment.
Due to our participation in BIG ART Rotterdam, the gallery will be open by appointment only on 11 and 12 September.
Molendijk 46, 2931 SC, Krimpen aan de Lek
contact@root.gallery | +31 6 23819111
By Jeske Haak
21 × 21 × 7 cm, 2023
Polished bronze
Unique
Ocean Meets Earth considers transformation in the opposite direction: a marine creature appears to be developing the limbs and structure needed to move on land. Multiple legs, claws and layered organic elements form an intricate body that feels both recognisable and entirely invented.
For Jeske Haak, these small bronze works are essential sculptural studies. They offer space to observe the anatomy of the creatures that fascinate her and to reconstruct their forms through imagination. Within Tiles Stories, evolution is not presented as a fixed sequence, but as an open process in which each physical change creates new possibilities.
Delivery within the Netherlands and Belgium is complimentary and arranged with care, either in person or securely shipped. We’re happy to advise on placement and presentation.