Silent Animal Inside
In this mysterious portrait, a woman meets your gaze with a quiet, piercing intensity. Her dark hair merges with the deep brown background, making her seem to emerge from a twilight zone between dream and reality. On her head, she wears bunny ears - a curious combination of plush and reality - as if showing a part of herself that normally remains hidden. In her ear shines a butterfly as an ornament, light and impermanent, but also a symbol of transformation.
The contradictions in this work - wild and soft, playful and serious, real and imagined - come together in an image that whispers more than speaks. It raises questions about identity, instinct and the mask we wear. The ears are not a joke, but a subtle reference to the animal in all of us: sensitive, alert, maladjusted.
This portrait arose from my fascination with inner life, and how we sometimes make it visible with a small gesture. Without words, but with meaning.
In her vivid, modern portraits, Tanja Kooymans explores the quiet magic that lingers beneath the surface of the everyday.
Her figures, often women adorned with surreal elements , move through a dreamlike space where nature, fantasy, and identity meet.
With intuitive use of color and..
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