The world of Merel Jansen (°1990, NL) smells of turpentine and oil paint. She is filled with color, form, and movement.
In her early years, Merel found stability in portraiture and realism: a way to understand the world through the faces and stories of others. But she soon discovered that the power of her painting did not lie in mimicking what she saw, but in showing what she felt. Sadness, anger, wonder, and vulnerability become not themes for her, but colors — a unique language of energy and emotion. What is heavy in life becomes something that lives and moves on the canvas.
