Mandy den Elzen

Can fish hear? Mandy den Elzen became fascinated by the anatomy of fish when she was passing by a fish stall at the market. The gills of the fish, which are composed of comb-like filaments of tissue, the gill lamellae, intrigued her. She wondered about the internal morphology of fish and asked herself if fish could hear. That’s when she started to study the morphology of fish. She discovered that fish have bones in the inner ear, called otoliths with which they hear, and that the otoliths can be used to determine the age of a fish, since they form yearly rings: “By counting the rings, it is possible to determine the age of the fish in years,” Mandy explains.

To see beauty through layers. Mandy has preserved many fish species so she can show the diversity in gills and she does this with great care: “With an almost scientific approach and meticulousness I transform the material from its raw form to a finished work. I work with animal material and it is essential to have full control of the process from the beginning, including the selection and handling of the raw materials. Mandy’s work is about showing the beauty of nature and at the Dutch Design Week she shows that even the inner animal organs, like the gills of fish, can be beautiful. “I see through the layers which obscure the object; layers of blood and grime but also through cultural or social notion that says that these materials cannot be an object of beauty. I look at the material itself and see structures, patterns, textures and possibilities,” Mandy says.