Daphne Verheijke's paintings are often evocative, she is concerned with capturing feeling, intention, and color.
Verheijke wants to capture beautiful water features, beautiful shades of light, and the spaciousness of a landscape while painting. Contrasts of warm and cold colors fascinates her endlessly. It's the simplicity that holds the power, being absorbed into the space where, for a moment, nothing else matters.
ArtDependence (AD): How does your work reflect your view of the world right now?
Daphne Verheijke (DV) I use various themes in my paintings, sometimes very current, such as paintings or drawings about abuse, referencing to the Me Too movement. I also want to depict a mythical power of nature in my paintings, as a kind of metaphor. The painting "You are a Star in Heaven" reflects on the loss of a loved one, who perhaps feels like it's out there somewhere, in infinite space, but you don't know it. It's a feeling, a longing.
AD: What role do you think art plays in connecting people today?
DV: I think art can play a very important role in all sorts of ways. The beauty of art is that it can give you insight, but it can also amaze and enchant you. There are so many starting points for looking at art. What I find a shame is that too much commercialism overshadows art. It should be much more about the depth of art.
Daphne Verheijke, Dreamy Earth, 2025
AD: Can you tell us the story behind the painting 'Dreamy Earth'?
DV: I like the painting "Dreamy Earth" because it's so important that we can also dream away in spaces and enchanting colors, the magical nature that must be cherished in contrast to the harsh world of money and war, greed, and polarization.
It's important to be close to nature. We only have one Earth, and it's incredibly ingenious. Indigenous peoples always say we should be grateful for what the Earth gives us. Western thinking is too focused on exploiting the Earth. In many of my paintings, I make my own paint to be as sustainable as possible.
AD: What message or feeling do you hope viewers take away from your art?
DV: When they look at my paintings and are amazed by beauty in the deepest sense of the word, beauty as consolation. In other paintings and drawings of mine, usually themes about women, relationships, grief, I hope for recognition, that it touches.
AD: What inspired you to take part in the Art to Collect project?
DV: The site looks beautiful and comes across as art-loving. It also features interviews with knowledgeable people who understand art. They've also selected artists who appeal to me.
Main Image: Daphne Verheijke, You Are a Star in Heaven, 2024