About the artist
Roxy van Bemmel (1993) is a visual artist from Utrecht, the Netherlands. She graduated from the BA Fashion Design at ArtEZ University of the Arts in 2017 and started her career as a fashion illustrator. Her work has been exhibited at the I Love Illustration Gallery in Amsterdam, the Tini Mini Room in Dordrecht and de Kring in Amsterdam. In 2020 she won the international Fashion Illustration Drawing Awards (FIDA).
Artist statement
When I was younger I’ve often felt invisible, and that is why I now create selfportraits so large that you can't ignore them. I am literally taking up space. If I get to the core of why I create, I want a younger Roxy or a less confident Roxy to look at my work and think: look, she can do it too, so I dare to be like that as well. I never want to feel small again.
I spend weeks, sometimes even months, on a painting, making time a significant factor. I can be very hard on myself as both a person and an artist, but because I look at a piece for so long, I start seeing the characters I paint as separate from myself. Through my work, I show myself softness.
Each painting starts with video. Like a voyeur, I film my own movements and observe myself from angles I don’t usually see. I select still images that convey a sense of movement and transform them into digital collages using photoshop. These images are sketches for my paintings, which I build up in multiple layers of oil paint and oil pastel.
I want a viewer to feel seen, to not feel invisible, to think big and take up their space.
CV
2024
Upcoming: solo (curated week) at Galerie Waterbolk curated by Ghita van Bergen.
Guest artist at the Biannual Portrait Fair at Loods 6, Amsterdam.
‘Soft words I tell myself’ at Hooghiemstra, Utrecht.
Group exhibition ‘art collective for peace’ fundraiser, Amsterdam.
2023
Exhibition at Louis Hartlooper, Utrecht with a variety of life drawings.
2022
‘A study on intimacy’ at de Kring, Amsterdam.
‘A study on intimacy’ at Bunk hotels Utrecht.
Group show works on paper at TiniMini Room in Dordrecht, curated by Ralf Kokke.
‘My valentine’ exhibition at Iloveillustration gallery in Amsterdam, curated by Anneke Krull.
Exhibition at Hooghiemstra, Utrecht.
2021
Art walk exhibition Utrecht in collaboration with ZIMIHC Wittevrouwen.
Group show at Louis Hartlooper Complex Utrecht, curated by Meisje in het Wit.
2020
Group exhibition ‘INDIGO’ at Iloveillustration galllery in Amsterdam, curated by Anneke Krull.
WINNER FIDA Worldwide Fashion Illustration competition in ‘Experimental’ category.
Group exhibition fashion illustration during Amsterdam Fashion Week at Fosbury & Sons, curated by Anneke Krull.
Group exhibition Illustratie Biënnale, reinterpreted movie posters curated by Marlies Visser.
Education
2013 - 2017 BA Fashion Design at ArtEZ University of the Arts, Arnhem, the Netherlands.
Teaching
Fashion illustration and technical drawing on digital programs at B Academy.
Fashion illustration at Artemis, Amsterdam.
Illustration and painting workshops at Nowhere, Amsterdam.
Fashion illustration workshops at ArtEZ prepatory course, Arnhem.
Fashion illustration workshops at MBO mode, Hilversum.
Fashion illustration and design at United POP, Amsterdam.