I paint nature’s enduring power (versus our impermanence)

My work is a meditation on nature’s endurance and humanity’s impermanence. I paint semi-abstract natural scenes where nature takes center stage, and human life is absent.

I am a Dutch painter, living and working in Naarden, the Netherlands. My practice is rooted in experimentation: I work primarily in oils and acrylics, but I also abundantly use organic materials such as leaves, grass, twigs, thatch, seeds, sand, dried flowers, and seaweed. These elements, held together by bitumen and binders, are built into thick, tactile layers—collages that form the textured surfaces of my work. Each painting is constructed through a process of layering, scraping, and embedding, resulting in surfaces that feel as much excavated as painted.
Texture is central to my work. The muted, earthy palette—browns, ochres, grays, and faded blues and greens—evokes memory and the quiet persistence of the natural world.

I am a sociologist by training and before I started painting I worked in business, where I travelled the world. This has shaped my perspective on human behavior and our collective challenges. I believe that as humans, we struggle to focus on and pursue long-term goals, often choosing immediate satisfaction over actions that really serve our future. This tendency has brought us to a point where our own extinction becomes a real possibility.

The absence of human life in my work is both a warning and a meditation: a reminder of nature’s enduring power and our own impermanence. My work carries memory— of places where natural remains symbolize past events, loss, and the quiet, continued persistence of the earth beneath our feet.

Do get in contact if there is anything you like.

Kurt Beers of Beers London Gallery on Leo’s work:

“There is no sense of excess or unnecessary complexity in Leo’s work. Every mark, every embedded object, and every compositional decision feels considered. The works possess a calm confidence that encourages prolonged looking rather than immediate spectacle. In a contemporary art world that often rewards visual noise, Leo’s quieter approach feels refreshing and authentic”.