Monique van Doorn

ABOUT ME

Artist & Modern Nomad

Hi, I’m Monique van Doorn, a Dutch artist and modern nomad.

I don’t have a fixed studio.

My studio is wherever I put down my suitcase.

For years I have been travelling, discovering new places and creating along the way. Every place brings something different. New colours, landscapes, animals, people, materials and light.

I look around, get inspired and work with what is there.

Sometimes that means pencil and paper. Sometimes paint, charcoal or gold leaf. And sometimes I find a discarded piece of cardboard and see the beginning of something new.

My work changes with the places I visit, but there is one shape that keeps finding its way back.

The circle.

Sometimes open, sometimes closed. Sometimes obvious, sometimes almost hidden.

For me, it can be the sun, the moon or the earth. It can represent movement, change, a cycle, a new beginning or simply the endless circle of life.

And then there is gold.

Gold, for me, is not about glamour. It is about light.

Gold leaf reacts to its surroundings. As the light changes, the artwork changes with it. Move a little, look again, and you may suddenly see something you didn’t notice before.

That is something I love about art.

I don’t want to tell people exactly what they should see or feel. I would rather create something that makes them curious. Something that invites them to stop for a moment and look again.

Perhaps that is also what travelling has taught me.

To stay curious.
To notice the unexpected.
To see possibilities in ordinary things.
And not to be afraid of change.

Some of my work is small enough to travel with me.

Some of it definitely doesn’t fit in my suitcase. 😉

Why I chose this life

In 2009, a breast cancer diagnosis changed the way I looked at life.

After completing my treatment, I realised I didn’t want to keep waiting for someday.

My husband and I sold almost everything and started travelling.

What began as a big change became a way of life.

Since then, I have chosen to collect experiences rather than things. New places, new people, long walks, unexpected encounters, adventures and memories.

I travel with as little as possible, although my walking shoes, camera, sketchbook and pencils are never far away.

Wherever I go, I create.

And when it is time to move on, I pack my suitcase again.

A new place.
A new story.
A new piece of art.

Perhaps that is why these words have stayed with me:

GRAB LIFE BY THE HORNS.

They remind me why I chose this life in the first place.

And another thought has slowly become the thread connecting the way I live, the way I create and the way I look at the world:

LOOK AGAIN

THERE IS ALWAYS LIGHT.