Artist Interview: Maartje Strik

Maartje Strik is a Dutch artist known for her evocative fantasy portraits, poetic still lifes, and expressive floral paintings that seamlessly blend dreamlike elements with tangible reality. Working with oil paint, pastels, and mixed media, she explores themes of human fragility, time, and connection, often merging figures with elements of nature.

A cornerstone of her career has been her long-standing collaboration with Galerie De Roos van Tudor in Leeuwarden since 1997. As her oldest and most significant gallery in the north of the Netherlands, it has played a vital role in shaping her artistic journey. Her work is also regularly exhibited at Galerie Posthuys on one of the West Frisian Islands, in annual themed exhibitions such as Voorjaarsbloeiers (Spring Bloomers). A member of the Artists’ Association De Ploegh in Amersfoort, she also participates in collective shows like the Print Manifestation (Grafiekmanifestatie).

Strik’s experimental approach includes collage and printmaking techniques, transforming fragments of her own past works into new compositions. Whether painting delicate tulips in bloom or figures infused with quiet contemplation, her art invites viewers to pause, reflect, and discover deeper meaning within each piece.

Maartje, if you had to distill your art into just three words—words that truly capture its essence—what would they be?

Imaginary (self-) portraits.

Your work beautifully balances fantasy and reality, often merging human figures with nature. How do you decide which elements to bring together in a composition—does the idea come fully formed, or is it an intuitive process?

When I start a new painting, or a pastel drawing, I will probably have a vague idea, a notion of some sort. It’s never a real plan. It is indeed very much an intuitive process; even when I base it upon my own work it tends to differ greatly from the original. The work often goes its own way and takes shape in a searching manner, and I follow. And in the meantime I check whether it’s going into the right direction.

There seems to be a certain vulnerability in your paintings — figures that reveal something deeply human, even fragile. Also, many of your pieces seem to hold a quiet dialogue between solitude and connection. Why do you think that is? Does it require vulnerability from you to create these?

I paint and draw imaginary portraits, or self-portraits if you like, to express how I experience life, the world. My focus is on human feelings and psychology, particularly our vulnerabilities and how we appear and present ourselves to the rest of the world. Impressions I get from human contact and communication, in words and otherwise, are leading, but curiousness of ‘the others’, of their moods and psychology as well.

I think I search for identity in people and ask myself: how do I relate to you and the other way around, and what do we express (un)consciously? Are there universal feelings and how do I portray these?

How do your surroundings influence your art?

My images are often linked to nature, I use natural scenes and elements as a décor for a mood I want to portray. Organic structures and animals are often intertwined with the human figure, also indicating the unbreakable bond between man and nature.

And since I moved from the city to a more rural region this has been an even greater influence. When I first moved here, I rediscovered outdoor sketching and drawing flowers and other organic stuff from life. It has helped me greatly in shaping my imagery. And it’s wonderful for keeping up drawing skills!

You have mentioned that you like to ‘disrupt’ expectations in your work, creating pieces that are both aesthetically engaging yet slightly unsettling. Why is this element of disruption important to you? How do you achieve it?

In searching for identity, I search for a kind of stratification, and it is these layers I want to depict. I deliberately combine fantasy and reality, and because my work is imaginary, I can divert from reality and make fun of my own themes by putting in some soul and tension or strangeness.

If someone were to stand in front of one of your paintings for the first time, what is the one question you hope they ask themselves while looking at it?

I certainly hope they are able to communicate with my painting. And ask themselves ‘what do I see, and how does this make me feel?’

If you weren’t an artist, what would you be?

A professional singer.

If you could give one piece of advice to your younger self as an artist, what would it be?

Listen to advice, don’t listen to opinions.

Connect with the Artist

All images courtesy of the artist.