Ton Voortman was born in Rotterdam, where he graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts. In his earlier work, the woman, her clothing, and the symbiosis between them played a crucial role. During an exhibition in Guernsey, he was inspired by the enormous boulders on the flat beach. The stones, completely or partially enclosed by sand and water, formed a new interpretation of the symbiosis he had been attempting to portray until then. In 2019, Ton Voortman began experimenting with elementary forms under the name Antoniem. It is a combination of his first name ANTONI and Experimental Modelling. During the 2020 lockdown, he worked in his French studio, detached from everything and dependent on the materials available. The result is a series of works completely antonymous with his figurative work. The forms appear simple, the contrasts between the various elements are greater, and there is more coherence. They are contemporary moments, represented by a cube and/or an amoeba.