Joost Krijnen's oeuvre is about drawing, its meaning and the stretching of its possibilities. Compared to other classical media, such as painting or ceramics, drawing is without forgiveness; acrylic on canvas can be painted over, a line on paper is a line on paper.

This fact is embraced by Krijnen like no other. By making piles of drawings, the artist finds form, transforms it and releases it again. Spontaneous lines become faces and hands, beaks and masks, accidents become coincidences but one line too many means a new A4.

If one has to sum up Krijnen's oeuvre of recent years with one subject, it is mimicry. In his search for forms, the draughtsman constantly finds the faces of animals, people and masks balancing on the edge of the caricatural, but often far beyond it; Krijnen's creatures startle, laugh, amaze and get angry.

For the publication 33 vogels, Krijnen depicted 33 birds, on 31 sheets of 32 x 24 cm paper. The collection of drawings was published in 2020 with the support of the Mondrian Fund.