Ditje van Lierop (1977)

When I stopped fighting the current, my creativity found its space in surrender.

For Ditje, art is a place where trust and play converge. While she once sought order amidst chaos, she now embraces the unexpected. Letting go of control creates room for experimentation, discovery, and wonder.

Art has been a constant thread throughout her life. After a period of stagnation, her artistic practice took on new meaning. Following her studies in Art and Cultural Sciences and a career as a line and project manager in civil engineering (spanning both water and land infrastructure), illness brought about a profound change. It forced her to let go of what she had built and surrender to a new reality.

That experience resonates in her current work. Since 2024, she has been pursuing her creative development at Herenplaats. Central to this is the process of letting go: working abstractly without a fixed plan, following the material, and welcoming mistakes as surprises. From abstract landscapes to portraits, every piece emerges from a mindful presence in the moment, with the material itself charting the path.

Ditje continues to develop creatively through a variety of courses, ranging from creative writing to sculpting. Her broad curiosity is evident in her work; she feels no need to commit to a single style, consciously choosing instead a path of freedom, exploration, and growth.