My name is Tessel and I’m a painting artist, curious about finding ways to connect deeper with the natural world, especially the water, around us. I wasn’t always a full-time artist. I studied International Law and Human Rights, and World Politics, and I did extensive research into Indigenous Land Rights and the impacts of climate change on small island nations. I always dreamt about working in the humanitarian and conservation field (which I did!).

Yet already from a young age, I was always making art. It was only natural to me, and the thing I love doing most. Over the years, I started to experience the powerful stories we can tell through art… and I learned that our creative expression is not separate from re-imaging better worlds, it’s an intricate part of it.

I started to interweave themes of human rights, boundaries of the body, and our relationship to the changing water -and landscapes around us in my art. I started painting about belonging and finding this among other women. I also started painting about water, compelled by how I found so many parallels between the rights and perception of water bodies, and the female body, in Western societies.

In my art practice today, I’m constantly looking for ways in which I can connect those two worlds I'm part of, those different sides of me, those different ways of thinking. ⚖️🌀 Merging body and space on my canvasses, the boundaries of dream-like androgynous and feminine figures interweave like flooding rivers with each other. As such, each painting aims to reveal the beauty of vulnerability and relatability - and reminds us of the natural world that lives both around and within us.

If this resonates with you, consider following more of my work on my Instagram, where I’ll be sharing photos of new art pieces, the process in my atelier located next to Haagsche Bos and updates of upcoming exhibitions.

Thanks for your interest!  

Warmly,
Tessel van der Putte