Interview Text:

'My drawings tell a story. Not in words, but through lines, postures and silences. Each piece carries a feeling, a movement or a situation that says something without being spoken.' Yet Mijnie knows exactly how to bring her work close to others through words. With her exhibition at Guido Rieger in Rotterdam, she is sharing her artworks publicly for the first time.

In her daily work, Mijnie is practical, precise and detail-oriented. That same care is present in her art, but from a different place: she draws intuitively, inquisitively, and with deep sensitivity for what wants to emerge. Mijnie lives attentively, with a strong sense for detail and a constant search for what feels right — in image and in emotion. 'I lose myself in drawing. Not because I have to, but because I love it. It brings me somewhere. I follow the lines until something appears that I didn’t plan. Often, it connects to what’s inside me. Sometimes I think of someone while I’m drawing — not as a subject, but as a feeling that translates into form. The piece then carries something of that person with it, without being literal. That gives it even more meaning.'

If the final image doesn’t feel right, Mijnie won’t hesitate to destroy it — even after hours of work. 'Only what feels right to the core is allowed to exist. I work from a deep stillness, but also with a sense of urgency — as if something in me wants to come out, though I don’t know exactly what it is. My work doesn’t begin with a plan, but with a need to make visible what would otherwise remain unseen. The image often says more than I could’ve imagined beforehand. Only when it’s finished do I see what it really reveals. And then it touches me — not as the maker, but as the viewer. As if it came from outside of me and gives something back that I hadn’t yet found the words for.'

Since April 13, Mijnie’s work has been on display in the exhibition 'Naar een punt toe' ('Towards a Point'). The title reflects what she has been working toward for some time. Her drawings explore themes such as connection, strength, motherhood, perseverance and vulnerability — things she deeply feels and observes around her.

What does her creative process look like? 'I start with the main lines, simply in pencil. Then comes colour, also intuitively and with pencil. I never use the same palette — each drawing asks for something different. It grows from feeling, and that makes each piece unique. I like working with pencils because they are spontaneous and always within reach. I don’t plan the image; it finds me. It forms into an abstract figure, but for me, they are people. That’s why I give them a name, an identity. The name has to carry the weight of the drawing — I choose it with care. I feel a deep connection to the work as I create it.' Mijnie creates each artwork from beginning to end — from the initial sketch to the custom-cut passe-partout. Her husband builds the frames. Together, it becomes a unified whole.

Why now, at this point in her life? 'It’s always been inside me. Now I’ve been able to translate it into my work. But first, I had to discover myself. I had to dig deep to get to where I am now. My drawings still move me, because I know what’s behind them. But I can also let them go. If someone else sees something in them — a feeling of their own, or simply the beauty of it — then that is just as meaningful.'