Zoë visualises frustrations: 'I hope it's relatable.'

You’re not the only one

In a growing collection of drawings, texts, paintings and ceramic works, Zoë brings together her experiences. A collection of discomforts, thoughts, feelings and observations about the world around her. Through her work, she makes them visible.

One of her finals projects is a scroll that has grown to around fifteen metres in length. On it, frustrations follow one another in the same way they do in everyday life.

“It’s a continuous work in which I describe and illustrate the things that frustrate me. Sometimes I spend five metres writing about someone calling me a bitch on the train, and then another metre about the fact that I’m tired.”

For that reason, she prefers not to describe her work as feminist or activist art.

“I am a feminist,” Zoë says. “But as soon as you call something activist art, you immediately put a label on it.”

Instead, she describes her work as an image of how a twenty-year-old woman experiences the world.

“It’s also a way of processing things that other people might recognise in themselves, things that might otherwise remain unspoken. I hope my work helps people feel that they’re not the only ones struggling with something.”

The Tree That Kept Returning

This direct way of working emerged during her studies, when she found herself confronting her frustrations in her second and third year.

'During a painting assignment, I kept returning to the same image: someone sitting alone in a forest, directing all their frustration towards a single tree.'

That tree grew into Kut Boom, a collection of 170 paintings through which Zoë processed the loss of her father.

'I just kept painting. After about twenty works, I suddenly realised: wait a minute. This isn’t just some random person. This is me.'

The collection eventually grew into three series. At first, the work focused on anger and confusion. Later, it shifted towards longing for a relationship that would never exist.

'I painted about it a lot,” she says. “That was my way of dealing with it.'

Time for a New Chapter

When the collection was finished, Zoë felt that Kut Boom had reached its conclusion.

'After 170 works, I felt okay about it. That sounds strange, but I needed this in order to feel better.'

She was encouraged to create a fourth series, but she had no desire to return to the same tree.

'I knew the work was powerful. But Kut Boom came from a place of confusion. Of frustration. It came from a situation that completely took over my life.'

In her fourth year, Zoë noticed that her understanding of frustration had broadened. 'It became more about the things that happened to me and how I felt about them.'

That shift is visible in her current work. Expressing emotions and frustrations through art remains central, but the focus has changed.

'The final result looks different,' she says. 'It has become more figurative, more narrative and more accessible.'

From Me to Us

While her earlier work helped her make sense of her own experiences, Zoë now sees how her work can resonate with others.

Her illustrations about the menstrual cycle will soon be used in educational materials for secondary schools.

'At school, you often learn how a hormonal cycle works. But much less about what the consequences of that cycle can be in everyday life.'

That is exactly the conversation Zoë hopes to contribute to through her work.

'That you can say to someone: do you experience that too? In that way, we can make hidden taboos and things we take for granted open for discussion.'

Looking Ahead with an Open Mind

After graduating, Zoë is deliberately keeping her options open.

She already teaches creative classes in schools and hopes to continue doing so. She also sees herself working in places where images can help create understanding and spark conversations.

'In healthcare, education or community centres. I love the idea of sharing my perspective through illustration and storytelling.'

And perhaps one day there will be an unexpected master’s degree as well.

'This morning I was looking at programmes in sexology,” she says with a laugh. “As long as it’s interesting. Sometimes you just have to follow your hyperfixations and see where they take you. That’s how you learn a lot. About the world, and about people too.'

Whatever comes next, curiosity remains the common thread running through her work. It forms the foundation of her practice: personal, inquisitive and always searching for recognition and connection.

'I think Illustration Design at ArtEZ has mainly taught me to look at the world with a more open mind.'

From 2 to 5 July, you can see Zoë’s work during the ArtEZ finals exhibition in Zwolle.

ArtEZ Academy of Art & Design Zwolle
Rhijnvis Feithlaan 50
8021 AM Zwolle

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