space to reflect
The Arts to Hearts Project interviewed me as a contemporary Dutch female artist in December 2024. The conversation offered me space to reflect on how my work develops, where it begins, and how certain figures and materials return over time.
In a more recent TV interview, I speak about these themes in a more immediate and conversational way. You can watch the interview here.
It is not a fixed story. It is closer to a movement, something that keeps shifting as I work.
Context
The interview was conducted by Afsheen Adnan for the Arts to Hearts Project, a platform that brings together contemporary artists and their processes.
Being part of this platform placed my work in a broader context, alongside other artists who approach image, material, and narrative from different perspectives. It forms part of a growing body of interviews and publications around the work, which you can find on my press page.
Excerpt – Artistic practice and themes
In the interview I speak about how my work moves between nature and human experience. I don’t approach these as separate worlds. They continuously overlap.
Themes like freedom, loss, and transformation appear in my work, but not as fixed narratives. They emerge through layers, through material, through the act of making.
Anthropomorphic archetypes in my work
One of the threads that runs through my work is the presence of anthropomorphic figures, such as the hare (Haas) and the deer (Hert).
Haas appeared during a prolonged and complex period in my life. Not as an idea, but as something that insisted on being there. Through drawing and painting, it slowly took form.
It comes from somewhere familiar, something rooted in childhood, but it has shifted over time. Sometimes it feels close, sometimes distant. I don’t define it too precisely. The question of “who is who” is not something I want to fix.
Later, the deer entered the work. It carries a different presence. Where the hare feels alert and fragile, the deer brings stillness and awareness. Both exist alongside each other, and both reflect something internal, while also relating to what I observe around me.
Material and process
My work develops in layers. I don’t start from a fixed image that I try to execute.
Material plays an active role. Oil paint, charcoal, mixed media, they are not just tools, they influence the direction of the work. Texture, surface, gesture, these elements determine how the image unfolds.
I work by staying with what appears, rather than forcing it into a predefined outcome.
Position within contemporary art
In the interview, my work is placed within a broader context of contemporary painting, where symbolism, material, and perception come together. I recognize that connection, but I don’t start from a label. What interests me is the space where reality, memory, and imagination overlap, where meaning is not fixed, but continues to shift.
Publication & feature
I am also featured in the coffeetable art book “101 Art Book: Animal Edition” by Arts to Hearts Project. This publication brings together artists working with animal imagery and symbolic language in contemporary practice. Connecting my work to a broader field where narrative and material continue to evolve.
If you’re curious to explore the publication further, you can find more information on the Art to Hearts Project site.
If you want to experience the work beyond the page, you are welcome to visit my studio or explore the available works.
