Contemporary Female Artist in the Dutch Art Landscape
A short contemporary artist statement on layered symbolic painting. I work through layered symbolic painting, building images from within rather than from what is merely visible.
Layer by layer, image by image, I build spaces where tenderness and strength can exist at once. I work from an inner image, not as fantasy, but as something that insists on taking form. For me, layering takes precedence over clarity, tension over resolution, presence over perfection. The surface is never the endpoint, but a skin through which something deeper becomes visible.
Therefore my work is not about decoration, but about opening toward depth. Depth matters more than surface.
“I position my stories in the time of now. Contemporary does not mean trend-driven. It means aware.” – Leonoor Ruigrok
Awareness
My work begins with awareness, not only of what happens in the world around me, but of what takes shape beneath it.
I translate this through visual language, using symbolic imagery, gesture and layered narratives. Within the Dutch art landscape, this places my work in a field where observation and inner experience continuously meet.
Dutch context
Being Dutch, to me, is not a fixed identity but a field of influence.
It carries the legacy of centuries-old painting techniques and art history, but also the directness of landscape, wind and water. These forces shape how I approach material, rhythm and surface, constantly shifting between control and release.
Female perspective
Being a woman in my work is not a theme, but a presence.
It moves between softness and force, between the feminine and the masculine, without settling into fixed roles. This layered position feeds into my imagery, where figures and symbols hold multiple readings at once.
I am lightly inspired by the book Two Queens and a King by R. J. Peskens, and by my upbringing, in which clear male–female distinctions were largely absent.
If you are looking for my position as a contemporary Dutch female artist within the wider field, you can read more at my artist vision, where I speak about the work itself.