Artistic Vision — Symbolic Contemporary Painting
I paint from inner reality rather than from what is merely visible.
Layer by layer, image by image, I build spaces where tenderness and strength exist at once.
Therefore my work is not about decoration, but about opening — an opening into depth.
Not what stands before me forms the point of departure, but what arises from within.
My contemporary painting practice is not concerned with illustrating visible reality. Instead, it reveals inner landscapes where vulnerability and strength coexist. Therefore I choose layering over clarity, tension over resolution, presence over perfection.
Depth matters more than surface.
If you are looking for my position within the Dutch art landscape, you can read more about why I identify as a contemporary Dutch female artist. Here, I speak about the work itself.
Leonoor Ruigrok is a contemporary Dutch female artist whose work moves between inner reality and symbolic painting.
An act of freedom
I paint inner reality as an act of freedom.
Not the visible takes precedence, but what emerges from within.
What moves beneath the surface.
What cannot be immediately fixed into place.
The unambiguous image is not given priority.
Nor is the closed narrative.
My work does not need to explain.
It may leave space.
That space reveals itself in tension — soft beside raw, silence beside movement.
Therefore I choose the open ending.
Not as uncertainty, but as a deliberate gesture.
Not to fix, but to open.
NO LABEL, BUT…
Female Perspective – Presence in Layers
My perspective is rooted in lived experience.
Female, in my work, is not a theme but a presence. It appears in layers — vulnerability beside strength, silence beside resistance.
That presence does not stand apart from tradition. My work moves within a long history of painting in which technique and gesture continue to challenge one another. Old-master techniques surface when needed; a raw gesture may just as readily break through the surface.
I do not choose between refinement and instinct. Both are given space.
Symbols That Enter the Work
Symbols are never planned in advance. They arrive.
The hare appeared first — fragile, clever, resilient.
Later the deer entered —grounded, alert, transformed.
These animals are not illustrations. They are carriers of movement inside the work. They surface when the painting is ready for them.
For example, a small figure beside a vast landscape may hold more tension than a monumental gesture. Therefore scale becomes symbolic as well.
If you want to explore the deeper narrative layer, visit the page on symbols & narrative
Where the Boundary Softens
MAGICAL REALISM
My work moves within the territory of magical realism.
Reality remains recognizable, yet something shifts. The atmosphere tilts slightly. A house stands in immense weather. A woman carries something unnamed.
Through layered textures and visible mark-making, the surface retains its history. Nothing is fully erased. That history matters.
The painting becomes both landscape and inner terrain.
→ Read more about magical realism and symbolism in my work.
MATERIALS AND METHOD
I work primarily with layered oil and mixed media.
Surface is essential. Pigment, texture, rhythm, edge — they create the skin of the painting. Therefore I alternate between slowness and decisive movement.
Knowledge builds the structure. Intuition disrupts it.
I choose tension over resolution.
Interested in experiencing the surface and scale in person?
Book a studio visit.
Standing
within
The Present
I position my stories in the time of now.
Contemporary does not mean trend-driven. It means aware.
Dutch, to me, carries the spirit of discovery, the courage to experiment, and the legacy of centuries-old master techniques and art history — as well as the wind in my hair, the force of water and wind that continue to shape and challenge.
Female, in my practice, remains layered presence.
Together, these elements form not a label but a stance.
WOMAN PAINTER – An open ending
There is pride in adding my voice to a wider conversation of women in Dutch art who expand how stories are told.
Yet expansion, to me, does not end in certainty.
I want to create openings, spaces where imagination and reality meet. Where tenderness and strength can exist at once. Where a hare or a deer may wander in without explanation.
I observe, feel, and create.
Presence over perfection.
For collectors and curators
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Curious to drop by my studio in Voorhout, interested in one of my works, or thinking about a potential collaboration? I’d be glad to hear from you. I enjoy working with collectors, curators, galleries, designers, architects, interior creatives, and brands.
Looking forward to your message!
Peaking light – Sneaky hidden sunflowers
Acrylic on paper – Wooden box framed
Paradise
Oil on paper – museum framed
Sun Catcher – Sneaky hidden sunflowers
Acrylic on paper – wooden box framed
Deer Fact
Mixed Media on paper – museum framed
– See available works in my portfolio.