Staring Woman Print

Maaike van Wijk was born in 1972 and grew up near Amsterdam. She studied at the Amsterdam Fashion Institute and the University of Amsterdam. She lives with her husband and daughter on their self-designed houseboat in Ouderkerk aan de Amstel. With a pilot as a father and a purser as a sister, Maaike grew up in a family where traveling has always been central. She visited more than 50 countries and learned a lot about looking at beauty, people, culture and nature. In New York in 1993 she visited the Museum of Modern Art with her father, where Maaike was enormously impressed by Van Gogh's Starry Night. This made her start painting. She also started photographing the world. In 2019, Maaike emigrated to South Africa for 2 years. Here she opened a boutique hotel with her husband. She noticed how much waste there was on the streets and nature in and around Cape Town. When she bought a work of art from a township resident during Covid, which he had made from residual waste, she was enchanted. Maaike now makes art from found objects and collected junk in the studio on her houseboat, but also mixed media works of art that incorporate a lot of old paper and magazines. She receives the objects donated from family, friends and acquaintances. Everyone saves caps, old pens and felt-tip pens, beads, toys, cables, plugs, buttons, zippers and so much more. Maaike also collects trash on the street or searches for items in thrift stores. All this is incorporated into her art. Maaike's work should be seen from 2 viewing positions, from a distance to recognize the image and standing close to identify the materials. Every time you look at it you discover something else “I like that waste, which is so easily thrown away and replaced in today's society, is given a new life in my works of art. It is a small contribution to our planet and creating a more beautiful world”.