ABOUT
For as long as I can remember, I've been drawing. For years I assumed my work would one day illustrate a children's book. But looking back at everything I made, each piece was filled with deep emotion, heavy subjects, quiet pain. I started to wonder if it belonged anywhere at all.
A few months ago, something shifted. I started painting bigger. And I realized that my style, approachable, almost childlike, might actually be the perfect way to bring difficult things to the table without closing people off.
That's what I try to do: talk about fear, loss, friendship, motherhood, and all the big and small things we carry in everyday life. Through characters and color, I invite people to reflect; on how they see others, how they see themselves, and what they eventually do with that.
BACKGROUND
I grew up in a small village in the Netherlands during the 90’s, with my mother working in education and my father who served in the army. In a village with few distractions, I found an early refuge in drawing, using pen and paper to construct my own imagined worlds. Creativity ran naturally through my family: my grandmother ran a fashion school, while my grandfather was a gifted draftsman.
From an early age, I came to use drawing as a way to explore emotion and articulate my relationship to the world. This sense of layering continues to inform my work, in which playfulness and vulnerability exist side by side.
In 2011 I graduated from the Design Academy Eindhoven. After my studies, I worked for several years as a designer within the high-end hospitality industry, alongside commissioned narrative work. Today, I focus on the development of my autonomous practice, within which I creates both independent work and commissioned projects.
