Artist Statement & Biography
Artist Statement
“I was taught to hide desire. I now paint it — unashamed and alive.”
I grew up in a world where sensuality was suppressed, the body seen as a threat, and the female form something to be covered or controlled. That tension never left me, however, it became the fuel for my work.
As a former chemist and inventor, I approach painting as an alchemical ritual. In my laboratorio, I use egg tempera, oil, and fire – the same materials as da Vinci and the Van Eycks – but I direct them toward a subject those masters never dared to touch: empowered, sensual women.
My paintings are not nostalgic. They are confrontations. Rebellions. Acts of visual reclamation.
Flesh becomes freedom. Sensuality becomes sacred. The gaze, no longer passive, becomes political.
This is not safe art. This is forbidden art — and it was never meant to stay hidden.
Sincerely,
Edwin IJpeij”
Biography
At work with model Joy downtown Maastricht
About Edwin IJpeij
What if the most powerful parts of us are the ones we’re told to hide?
I am Edwin IJpeij — a former chemist turned artist, on a lifelong quest to reveal what history tried to suppress. In my laboratorio, I merge ancient painting techniques with natural materials to bring forth hyperreal portraits that celebrate the sensual, sovereign power of women — power that has too often been silenced, shamed, or erased.
Raised in a world where desire was taboo, I now use egg tempera, oil, and raw pigments in the tradition of Van Eyck and da Vinci — not to imitate the past, but to paint what they were forbidden to touch. My work is not about nostalgia. It is a reclamation. A quiet revolt.
I do not paint for comfort.
I paint for truth.
Not objectification — but embodiment.
Not provocation — but presence.
Not safe art — but honest art.
Each piece is a fusion of science, soul, and sensuality — designed to stir, to question, and to liberate. Whether through painting or photography, I invite viewers into an intimate dialogue about power, vulnerability, and the full spectrum of what it means to be human.
My work is collected across Europe and exhibited in galleries that dare to embrace its unapologetic essence. It speaks to curators, collectors, and media voices who are ready to challenge conventions — and to anyone who knows that art should not only be seen, but felt.
Welcome to my laboratorio.
Where the forbidden becomes undeniable.