My name is Marlou Jaspers and I am a 25 year old Dutch-born surrealistic and figurative oil painter, currently based and active in Sweden. Even though my paintings are touching the surreal and fantasy world,  mostly expressed by portraying life in underwater environments, behind every colorful image is a real and honest concept inspired from reality – the world around us and the changes in time, environment and society.

Climate change, global warming, rising sea levels, ice melts, desertification, deforestation, industrialization, pollution, fresh water scarcity, animals being and becoming critically endangered or even entire species going extinct, these are only a few of the dramatic things that are happening around us as a result from human activities. I want to explore the true connection we have with nature, and what consequences we are facing from our own actions. What we often tend to forget, is that while this is a major threat to our natural environment and the animals in it, when all of that is gone – where does that leave us? Leopards, turtles, rhinos and other animals our grand children might one day ask us about are not the only species on the list of being threatened by climate change – Homo Sapiens are on there as well.

My studio is my bubble of comfort but also my space of stepping out into the world. It’s where I spend hours and hours with a brush in my hand and my head stuck in literature, since I like to not only develop the skill in the hand but also the brain, and be able to pass my knowledge and reflections further to the viewers of my work. Art is basically a way for me to express what I am learning and feeling every day. Experiencing and exploring the world in detail and hearing people’s personal stories are some of my biggest sources of inspiration and build up to the knowledge I use in my art.

Website: www.marloujaspersart.com
Instagram: instagram.com/marloujaspersart/
Facebook: facebook.com/MarlouJaspersArt