Together in the temporary
Juliette Van Dessel
Antwerp, Belgium
About
Juliette Van Dessel (2004) is a visual artist from Antwerp, Belgium. She mainly works with acrylic paint, combined with calligraphic ink, collage, printmaking techniques and the marouflage of rice paper on canvas. Ceramics also play an important role in her practice.
Her work develops slowly and intuitively, from a desire to hold on to what would otherwise slip by too quickly. In a time when images rush past at a fast pace, she searches for quiet and slowness in the act of looking. By letting layers of paint, paper and ink merge together, she creates compositions that move between figuration and abstraction, between recognition and estrangement.
She draws inspiration from everyday life, human connections, domestic atmospheres and elements of nature. Cave paintings, rituals and recurring patterns, such as those found in tiles, tableware or textiles, form a visual and symbolic undercurrent in her work. Flowers and animals in motion become carriers of impermanence and time.
Each work is an attempt to hold on to what disappears quickly, a quiet counter-movement within a fast-moving world.
Project
Layered images built through paint, ink, collage, printmaking, rice paper on canvas, ceramics, and other techniques move between figuration and abstraction. Everyday moments, humor, animals, nature, human connections, recurring patterns, and small observations that are easily overlooked often shape the work. Earlier layers remain visible, allowing images to function almost like a palimpsest. Details gradually reveal themselves over time, creating space for slower looking in a fast-moving world.
