My name is Luna van der Straaten (2001), a visual artist based in Amsterdam. My practice explores the human desire to gain control over a fundamentally ungraspable world. Working primarily with painting, printmaking and drawing, I bring together texts, photographs, thoughts and objects into layered, symbolic images.
Religion, science, metaphysics and systems of order are important references within my practice. They represent attempts to understand, fix and control the unknown. This impulse to structure is constantly in tension with what resists being captured: the unconscious, the spiritual, the chaotic and the transient. Themes such as meaning, life and death, creation and decay, finitude and infinity form a recurring undercurrent in my work.
Nature, from the microscopic to the cosmic, also plays a central role. Endless processes of transformation stand in contrast to the human tendency to hold on to and control what ultimately exceeds our grasp. This confrontation highlights the submissive position of the human being within life and the world.
This tension between control and intuition is also present in my working process. My images emerge through a collage-like approach, in which different elements form new connections. Painting allows me to respond, adjust, erase and begin again. By building up and breaking down layers, a continuous dialogue develops between conscious decisions and unconscious actions, where chance and error are as meaningful as intention and control.
Asemic writing functions as an additional tool within this process. It is a form of writing without fixed, readable meaning. The marks operate as image and rhythm, allowing meaning to emerge through the viewer’s experience rather than being predetermined.
In a time dominated by rationality and measurability, I see the exploration of the unconscious, the invisible and not-knowing as a necessary counterforce. My work seeks a balance between control and surrender, as a way of coming closer to what it means to be human within a complex and constantly shifting world.
EXHIBITIONS AND RESIDENCIES
SIM Residency - Reykjavik, Iceland (03/01 - 31/03 2026)
Expositieruimte 38CC "Fruiting bodies" - Delft (19/07 - 14/09 2025, group show)
Factor IJ - Amsterdam (02/07 - 31/07 2025, solo show)
Exposure, Hogeschool voor de Kunsten Utrecht (26/06 - 01/07 2024)
Studio K - Amsterdam (01/03 - 01/05 2024, solo show)
Fuse, Troef - Leiden (06/10 - 04/11 2023, group show)
Death By Dagger exhibition, ACU - Utrecht (03/09 - 30/09 2023, solo show)
De Nijverheid “Soul, mind, life soul” - Utrecht (06/02 - 27/02 2023, group show)
De Utrechtse Boekenbar - Utrecht (05/11 2021, group show)
INTERNSHIPS
Jonat Deelstra (February & March 2023)
Munir de Vries (May - July 2023)
STUDIES
BA Illustration – Hogeschool voor de Kunsten Utrecht (2020-2024)
CONTACT
+31 6 81509606
lunavanderstraaten@gmail.com
Instagram: @luna.vanderstraaten
