STORYTELLING: Elevating the Human Spirit

I wanted to shine a light on the enormous amounts of trash floating in our oceans. As I wandered around the islands I saw trash everywhere, discarded fish nets, plastic bottles and plastic bags tangled in trees. I collected some of the nets and wore the nets as an elegant dress during the photo shoot. I literally swam in waste, transformed into something beautiful. As an artist, I use my ability to create approachable, engaging, and beautiful entry points into complex issues such as environmental issues. I asked myself, how can I use my creativity to inspire new thinking, how can I encourage viewers to raise their awareness and use the power we have to create change. The Ocean Collection reflects the changes in our environment and can inspire us to take small and large actions to positively shape the change.

We sense more then we see in Isabelle van Zeijl's Moonshot Collection, where she embarked upon a complex and long personal journey to find, in the wild beauty of horses, meaning in her own life. The spiritual significance of the horse has long held meaning in many cultures, past and present. It is about overcoming obstacles and facing adversity and is meant to remind us to take care of our emotional, mental, and spiritual wellbeing. Isabelle's journey took her to the American West, she travelled upon a horseback in search for the iconic American symbol: the wild horse, who still live freely on the Western rangelands. Her journey and the meaningful relationship between horses and humans inspired her to investigate and dive deep and she created a series self-portraits with horses. In aspen, Colorado she photographed herself with horses. Every night she stood naked in the moonlight, in the trembling cold. It was a long and enduring process as Isabelle attempted to gain the horses' trust before she could be the artist. To do so, she had to completely surrender herself and, in her journey, she found courage and humility; and rather than teach the horses to trust her, she learned trust from them and surrendered herself in ways she never knew possible; in seeking to achieve the impossible, she reached for the stars-and finally touched them. The result is a series of self-portraits of such unsettling beauty that only the subdued monochromatic palette of undulating contrasts of light and dark-sometimes stark, other times with the luster of charmeuse silk-impose peace and calm.