The paintings of Collin van der Sluijs seem to belong to the realm of dreams. One of those dreams that creeps into everyday life. A mix of illustration, painting, street art, and (more occasionally) ceramics, where every detail tells a story. Born in Maastricht, van der Sluijs started writing graffiti at the age of eleven and has since built a visual language entirely his own. An imagery that blends surrealism, personal symbolism, and layered fairy-tale atmospheres that are not easily forgotten.

Birds, insects, flowers, and suspended faces in dreamlike atmospheres populate the works of Collin van der Sluijs. They are delicate and powerful at the same time, filled with beauty but also a subtle unease that’s hard to shake off. Collin essentially just hints. He lets the details speak, layering meaning without ever losing lightness.

Even in his works on paper and prints, his contemplative and curious approach emerges. His gaze remains that of a sensitive observer, capable of turning experience into image, and image into a window onto an inner world. His work moves across many different media, always with a coherence that evokes a truly fairytale-like imagination—something dreamlike, that even if it doesn’t bring us back to childhood, definitely sticks with us.

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