Pura Vida

About Jesper Krijgsman

Collage artworks are alive with creative energy - dynamic, diverse and surprising. The artist Jesper Krijgsman’s vibrant tableaus compile flora and fauna into exotic dreamscapes, skillfully combining natural and fantastical motifs. His… Read more

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BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Collage artworks are alive with creative energy - dynamic, diverse and surprising. The artist Jesper Krijgsman’s vibrant tableaus compile flora and fauna into exotic dreamscapes, skillfully combining natural and fantastical motifs. His seamless collages unite the real and the imagined, land and sea, in harmonic compositions. These works invite us to dive into a parallel world, one full of life, where singing birds, humming insects and gentle breezes are joined in chorus.
“To me, the process of evolution is like magic. It’s exactly this sense of wonder that I try to express in my art - I want to celebrate the diversity of our natural world by highlighting its more mysterious qualities”
Krijgsman’s greatest source of inspiration is nature itself. The artist is fascinated by the sheer diversity of plant and animal species on our planet. For him, evolution is like an artist, using ever-changing shapes, materials and colors to create endless new wonders. He sees his own work as tribute to the natural world – taking its creations and reinterpreting them in stunning new arrangements.
The first step in Krijgsman’s process is photographing every individual element of his lush compositions. Countless shapes and objects are painstakingly arranged and shot in his studio, before being combined through a series of digital tools. Over the years, Krijgsman has assembled an enormous private archive of elements from which he can draw from, enabling him to create endless new vistas and fantastical worlds.

VITA

Jesper Krijgsman was born in Amsterdam in 1992. He lives and works in Switzerland. His art, which focuses on dreamlike compositions of plants and animals, has received multiple awards and featured in a number of exhibitions.

INTERVIEW

Picasso once said, “you don’t make art, you find it.” Where do you find your art?
I find my art in many places. I’m often out searching for and photographing new material to work with. I don’t often plan to find a particular plant or animal and let my camera capture whatever sparks my interest: the shape of a particular plant could capture my attention and often makes me feel something. Aside from new photographic material, I bring home these emotions and they often spark new inspiration.

From an idea to its materialization: How do you approach your work?
Even though quite technical, my approach to my work remains organic. In my process, I let my intuition guide me to find a place for each element. Interesting colors, shapes and especially the feeling my photographed organic material radiates means that for me the artwork is full of emotion and constantly evolving. In many cases, my intention and original idea for a work shifts as I place more into it as the work develops organically.

What is your favorite book?
The Songs of Trees by George David Haskell

Which artist would you like to have coffee with and what would you discuss?
So many… Dali, Martin Johnson Heade, Leonardo Da Vinci… All sorts of things and about their life generally.

How did you get into art?
After some years of working in graphic design, my passion and fascination for visual storytelling culminated in creating his own personal work with nature as its subject. The innocence of the natural world, diversity in evolution and desire for a world where people would be more in touch with the natural world is something I felt like I had to explore more. This opened up a whole new world to me where I could use my technical craft and discover new things about our world.

Who are the people in your surroundings that influence you?
I’m influenced by everyone, anyone can be a source of inspiration and influence you to create something.

Imagine you have a time machine. Where would you go?
To a land before time… Immersed in undisturbed nature.

Other than art, what are you most passionate about?

I believe our rapidly expanding and developing society should find more ways to give back to our environment to better balance our position we share on this planet. I’m very worried my generation sees nature declining at a rapid rate. I hope I’m able to inspire people that the natural world is full of wonder and is worth protecting.

What are you working on right now?
I’m working on commissions and I am always looking for new material to work with.