I am an artist-researcher with a PhD degree in the (Environmental) Humanities on climate-related art. I am working on creative projects, such as abstract art, photography, research comics and participatory artistic workshops as reflective spaces to process socio-ecological crises in local contexts. I feel like I officially entered the artworld when I met social change artist Daniel Schinasi (1933-2021) during a visit to Southern France more than ten years ago, in 2014. He is one of those artists who create art to document society and who advocate for a better world. I soon realised that it was his personal and professional path that also needed documentation: He had to flee his country of birth due to political turmoil, and never lost sight of his passion for art and his desire for positive social change. Our encounter turned into a continuous intercultural, creative collaboration with a common thread: for a world of peace and hope. My photographs, interviews and short documentary about Daniel Schinasi have by now been shown in multiple cultural institutions across Europe.

This encounter would not only give me a mentor and dear friend for life, it also impacted my own path. Together with the inspiration my dad’s paintings gave me, it was a key moment after which I decided to dedicate my life to art and its connection to eco-social themes. I have been writing down my impressions about this encounter and my time abroad in France. Still very much an on-going process. See my writing overview for news.

Since then I have completed both an Arts Master and a Sustainability Master. In my PhD, the worlds of visual art and sustainability were coming together in one major project, supported by a grant from the Dutch Research Council NWO that I received in 2019, after studying and learning about art and sustainability for years. To quote one of my PhD promoters, I “have worked on art and the climate crisis before it was cool”! 🙂 I recently successfully defended my PhD, and can call myself a Dr. now (in the Humanities on climate-related visual art). Therefore, art is not only part of my life as creative practice (see my visual art portfolio, writing, and art workshops), but I am also looking at art with my researcher hat on (see my PhD).

I am researcher as much as I am a creative covering topics of social and environmental sustainability in relation to art. The imagination is a recurring concept in my practical and theoretical art endeavors. These address human-nature connections, which is why this website is called imaginehumannature.art. Enjoy!