Projects
Photography
Portraits (2018 - ongoing)
In his photography, Pieke examines how, when and why one portrays another person, establishing and maintaining a connection through the act of photographing. The photographs show an intimate view on navigating love: portraying lovers, first encounters and close ones, documenting an intimacy that would otherwise be lost, punctuating an autobiographical timeline of togetherness.
Pieke looks for a kind of surrender and concentration through dedication: to a photographic subject, or a timeframe, or a relationship. His insistence on the medium of analog photography reflects this drive.
The long-running and still ongoing project came into being through a wish for developing a personal archive of a queer identity which mirrors his own lived experience.
Mutual Weight (2023)
In the project Mutual Weight, photography and the visual imaginary are the starting points for explorations of duration, endurance and performativity, in which the body plays a central role. In this durational performance thirty people take turns carrying each other in pairs. When one is not able to carry anymore, the other takes over. They continue to switch until both are no longer able to carry. The work focuses on how individuals form a collective which is able to accommodate the other, emphasising interpersonal knowing and systems of care.