PAULIEN VERHEYEN
ORANGE COFFEE
PAULIEN VERHEYEN
ORANGE COFFEE
Paulien moves between communication design and an intimate, homegrown art practice
Alongside her part-time role as a communication creative and designer within the performing arts (at MAP), she creates drawings, small paintings, collages and short frame-by-frame animations from her living room. Her work is rooted in the human condition, more specifically in womanhood, and engages with socio-cultural themes through an intuitive, hands-on approach. She is drawn to portraying people in their purest form. A sensual, sometimes unapologetically raw energy runs through her images, often softened by an undercurrent of childlike innocence. As an illustrator, she has created commissioned work for clients such as Weekend Knack, VRT MAX, VANS, NTGent and Stad Antwerpen. With the shifts life and the world continue to bring, her practice is evolving: she is reconnecting with analogue processes, feeling a renewed urge to develop personal projects, and gradually finding her way into writing.
The story behind 'Dag Vis'
“For Yugen, I created a series of drawings in which I try to reconcile the human condition with nature. Of course, we are one and the same, but in our modern, always-on-our-phones reality, it doesn’t always feel that way ” Paulien explains. “I personally associate YUGEN with something refreshing and sparkling (I know, this isn’t meant to be an ad, but I genuinely am a fan!), so choosing water as the central theme for my sketch felt like the right fit." “Often, that deeper layer of meaning only reveals itself to me after I’ve fully worked through a drawing. It comes from getting into a flow, letting go, and allowing the moment to guide me. And when I look at the final bottle now, that’s exactly what it reflects for me: the idea of stepping out of your own mind through nature, and finding a sense of grounding and trust again, even if just for a moment.”
