MARIEKE VAN DIJK

I am a Rotterdam-based oil painter whose work explores the quiet magic of the natural world. I began drawing and painting at an early age and am largely self-taught. Alongside my studies and career in product design, I developed a practice in photography and graphic design, gradually expanding my time and focus on painting over recent years. My background in portraiture, graphic design and photography influences my work, resulting in a colourful mix of realism, surrealism and a figurative approach.

Rooted in childhood memories of the Dutch countryside, my paintings reflect a fascination with nature’s fragile details: misty fields, shimmering insects and the diversity of creatures around us. Nowadays living and working in the urban environment has made me conscious of how distant we have become from that sense of wonder. Through my paintings, I seek to restore it. I explore our relationship with natural elements and encourage viewers to reconnect with curiosity, like an early explorer: to experience nature as if encountering it for the first time.